Guyver Blue
by Vivi 26
Summary: Set after Chronos has taken over the world, and Guyvers 1 & 3 are joined by some powerful new allies. Chapter 36 is up: The Guyvers plan a counterstrike.
1. Character Introduction

Disclaimer: The characters used or mentioned in the following fic belong to their respective creators.

GUYVER BLUE

Chapter 1: Character Introduction

"You OK, Guyver 3?"

"I'll be fine, Fukamachi. Once my arm heals anyway."

The Guyvers were standing in a large forest clearing, surrounding them were five Zerabubuse type Hyper Zoanoids, one of which had managed to cut off Guyver 3's right forearm. Gigantic Guyver then vaporised it with a Hyper-Smasher blast, and threw Agito's severed forearm to him.

"Reattach your arm."

"Right, Thanks."

"Don't mention it"

They had been fighting for some time, although Sho had only been using the Gigantic Armour for a short time, Agito was aware of the fact that Sho would soon lose the armour as he ran out of energy.

"Guyver 3, I don't think I can use the Gigantic for much longer. When it is about to shut down I'll send it to you."

"OK, then we can deal with the rest of these monsters."

"Presuming we don't destroy them before I lose the armour."

Gigantic Guyver then moved away from Guyver 3 and started a hand-to-hand fight with another Zerabubuse, waiting for an opportunity to slice it apart with his sonic swords. Before that could happen, however, the other three remaining Zerabubuse body slammed him from behind. Sho was forced into a thick tree trunk; he then fell to the ground. His control medal flashed and the Gigantic Armour retuned into its cocoon and vanished. The Zerabubuse, and Guyver 3 saw this. As Guyver 3 summoned the Gigantic cocoon, the zoanoids charged at Guyver 1 but to Agito's amazement, they stopped in mid-run and didn't approach Sho. As his transformation to Gigantic Dark finished, Agito opened the chest plates and began to charge his Hyper Smashers intending to vaporise the zoanoids before they got to Sho. He never got the chance, though, as they began to explode into pieces. Agito closed his chest plates, disengaged the Gigantic, and looked around, smiling under his armour as he saw what had happened.

"Good timing, Blue."

On the opposite side of the clearing stood a dark blue Guyver, of a similar height but with a different appearance to Sho and Agito's units. This unit didn't appear to have any sonic swords and there was no sign of the sonic disrupter that was usually on the mouth area of the armour. The blue unit vented steam through its vents as Sho managed to get to his feet. The new arrival turned to look at Sho as he got up.

"Are you two OK?" the blue Guyver asked.

The new Guyver had the usual synthesised voice of a Guyver, but this voice was a female voice.

"I'm OK Blue, thanks for your help." Guyver 1 responded.

"No problem."

"How did you know where we were?" Guyver 3 asked.

"Sho sent me a call for help."

"Sorry, Agito, I didn't get chance to warn you, I asked her for help just as I was rammed into the tree."

"That's fine, she saved me some trouble."

"I'd like to talk to the two of you later, is there anywhere we can meet?" Blue asked.

"Why don't we just meet back here?"

"OK, is 15.00 this afternoon all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine, Guyver Blue. We'll see you then."

"Bye."

Sho and Agito deactivated their units and headed out of the clearing, noticing that the remains of the Zerabubuse zoanoids had almost completely dissolved.

_I wonder what she wants to talk about_. Agito thought to himself.

"We have about four hours till we have to meet up with Blue," Sho said, "Why do you think she wants to see us?"

"I have no idea," Agito replied, "But I hope she will tell us who she is."

"Yeah, she's been helping us for some time now, and we still don't know who she is or anything about her. It would be nice if we could learn more about her. Especially since she knows, somehow, who we are."

"We don't really know that much about her, do we?"

"No, just that, like us, she is using the powers of a Guyver to fight Chronos. Although she did tell me sometime ago that she had some 'special' abilities before she found her Guyver unit."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Sho replied, "she didn't tell me anything else."

Agito was quiet after that. The two young men then headed to their own homes.


	2. Identity Revealed

Chapter 2: Identity Revealed 

Some time later, back in the clearing, Guyver 1 waited for Blue to make her appearance.

"Nothing yet?" Guyver 3 asked, appearing next to Guyver 1.

"No, but we are early."

The head sensors of the two Guyvers then began to move, indicating that someone was nearby.

"Over there." Guyver 3 said, indicating.

The Guyvers watched as Guyver Blue flew near to them and landed in front of them.

"Thanks for coming."

"No problem Blue," Guyver 3 said, "Could you tell us what you wanted to talk about?"

"You always did get to the point, didn't you Agito?" Blue replied, "I wanted to talk to the two of you because there are some things about me that I think you should know."

"Like what?" Guyver 1 asked, curious.

"Who I am, for one thing," Blue replied, "I know the two of you have been wondering that for some time."

"Yes we have." Guyver 3 commented.

The control medal of Blue's armour began flashing, then seams appeared in her armour, and the armour disappeared.

"Sho, Agito, my name is Sonnet."

"Nice to see who you really are." Guyver 3 commented.

The host of Guyver Blue, Sonnet, was a tall, young woman who appeared to be of a similar age to the two of them. She was wearing a blue sailor suit that was the basis of so many school uniforms in Japan. She had large blue eyes; a very rounded face and long platinum-blonde hair that went someway down her back, in the hair covering her forehead was a V shaped hairpin with a sapphire in it.

"Don't be deceived Agito, you haven't seen everything yet." Sonnet remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"You may not like what you will see, are you sure you want to know this?"

Both Guyvers nodded their heads.

Sonnet rolled up the sleeve of her uniform.

"I have to ask one of you to do something that I doubt you will like."

"What?" a puzzled Guyver 1 asked.

"Could one of you use a sword to cut my arm, here?" Sonnet asked, indicating a line along the top of her arm.

"Why?" Guyver 3 asked.

"You will see, when you do ask I have asked."

"OK."

Agito approached Sonnet, extending one of the sonic swords on his right forearm.

[I hope you know what you are doing, Agito!] Guyver 1 said to him across the Guyvers telepathic organisms. [I don't like what she asked at all.]

Guyver 3 placed the sword on Sonnet's arm where she indicated and gently cut the skin along her arm. Sonnet, much to the surprise of Sho and Agito, didn't react to the cut. Guyver 3 took a look at the cut he had made on her arm.

"What the hell!"

"Agito, what's wrong?" Sho asked.

[Look for yourself.] Was the telepathic reply.

Guyver 1 approached Sonnet and also looked at the cut. He saw glowing lights and traces of metal circuitry in her arm.

"I warned you." Sonnet pointed out.

"What are you?" Agito asked.

"I'm a cyborg," Sonnet stated, "I never told you about my past, because of this. I didn't know how you would react to it."

"I'm amazed," Guyver 1 stated, "I didn't think it was possible for cyborgs to be made."

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk, more privately?"

"That depends on how you define 'private', our friends will be there." Guyver 3 said.

"That's fine, as long as we have a room that we can use."

"OK then, a friend of ours has an apartment nearby, she shouldn't mind us dropping in."

"Let's go then."


	3. A Past Explained

Chapter 3: A Past Explained 

Sho and Agito enter the apartment that Sho and Agito's friend, Natsuki, lives in, followed by Sonnet. Mizuki, Natsuki, Tetsuro and Shizu greet them as they enter.

After quick introduction, Sonnet started to fill the others in on her past.

"As Sho and Agito already know," Sonnet began, "I'm not completely human. I'm a cyborg, as hard as it may be to believe."

There was a brief stunned silence from the four people who didn't already know this.

"It's true," Sho said, "She showed us the circuitry in her arm."

"How is this possible?" Agito demanded.

"This will take some time, are you all sure you want to hear this?" Sonnet asked, after getting a nod from each individual in the room, she continued, "I wasn't always a cyborg. Until the age of 16 I was a human girl. I had had a very rough childhood, which I don't want to go into detail about, but at some point before I turned 15 I discovered I had some rare abilities."

"What kind of abilities?" Sho asked.

"ESP abilities. Using my mind, I could move things, take control of someone else's mind, or make things explode."

"Could you prove this please?" Tetsuro asked curiously.

"Of course, do you need that mug over there?" She asked, pointing to a ceramic mug on the windowsill.

"No." Natsuki replied.

As Sonnet stared at the mug, her eyes began to glow, surprising everyone in the room, shocking them when the mug shattered into several pieces.

"Handy ability." Agito commented.

"Depends what you use it on." remarked Sho.

"Some parts of my past are not pleasant," Sonnet continued, "I said I didn't want to go into detail about it, but I'll sum it up for you."

Her audience was listening very carefully to her now.

"I was an orphan. I don't know who my parents are; they could be dead for all I know. I lived most of my life on the streets of America. My abilities 'awoke', for lack of a better word, when I was 15. A gang of boys were threatening me and I was scared, I panicked and accidentally killed them."

"Because you didn't understand your powers?" Tetsuro asked.

"Right," Sonnet replied, "As you may have guessed, back then I didn't understand anything about myself. I was terrified of what I had done and hoping it was a one-off event. It wasn't. In the following two months, I killed several other people who were threatening me in a similar way."

"How did you kill them?" asked Agito.

"I made their heads explode."

That statement surprised everyone in the room.

"That's how you killed those zoanoids in the clearing, isn't it?" Sho asked her.

Sonnet looked at him and gave him a small nod. She then continued her story.

"It became a mystery around America, how these people had died. Eventually a company called 'Taron' became aware of my abilities and tracked me down."

"Taron, I've never heard of them. Who are they?" Mizuki asked.

"Taron is a secret organisation that, like Chronos used to, exists in the shadows. One of the scientists of Taron found me after another attack; I had been badly beaten and couldn't fight back or use my ESP abilities. The scientist, Dr Melicus, made me into an emotionless, soulless cyborg and I was programmed to obey him. For two years I worked for him. One of my first assignments from him was to track down a young woman here, in Japan, who was rumoured to have more powerful ESP abilities than anyone else in the world. I found the young woman and was eventually ordered to kill her. During this task though, my emotions and feelings for others began to resurface. I was unable to kill her, but I managed to convince Melicus that I had."

"How did you get your unit?" Agito asked.

"I'm getting to that. Taron has agents within Chronos. Through these agents, Taron became aware of the two Guyvers in Japan. They also became aware of another unit, a dormant one. The Taron agents managed to steal this unit from Chronos and it was offered to me. Dr Melicus had been unaware that I had been gradually getting my emotions back. Once I had merged with the unit, I killed Melicus and left Taron, I became a rogue operative. What I am trying to do is redeem myself for all the things I did in Taron's employ."

"That's understandable." Natsuki said.

"That is why I help the two of you in your fight against Chronos. I am aware that redemption will be difficult but I don't care about that. There, I've told you about who I am and why I'm helping you."

"How were you able to disobey the man who was controlling you?"

"During my mission to locate the woman in Japan, who is now a good friend of mine, I encountered another person that Taron had converted into a cyborg. This cyborg had turned against Taron as well. He saved my life on one occasion and, later on I saved him, even though I had been under orders to destroy him. That is when I realised that I could resist Melicus' control over me, and disregard his orders. I waited until I got my unit though before I openly rebelled against Taron."

There was a long silence in the apartment before Sho managed to say:

"I think we all appreciate you telling us all this Sonnet. I, for one, appreciate the help you have given us against Chronos this last year."

"It's getting quite late now Sonnet," Mizuki said, standing up, "Would you like to stay for supper."

Sonnet smiled before replying.

"Thanks for the offer, Mizuki. But, one of the drawbacks to being a cyborg is that I can't eat. I wouldn't mind staying here for a while though."

"That's fine." Natsuki offered, "You can stay the night if you wish."

"Thank you, I'd like that. Even though I don't need to sleep either, which can be a useful thing."

"Do you need any help, Mizuki?" Sho asked.

"Sure, Sho, you can help out. You said a while back that you wouldn't mind learning how to cook, I'll teach you while you're helping me."

"OK." Sho said, smiling.

As Sho and Mizuki left the room, Agito turned to Sonnet.

"If you don't mind Sonnet, I wouldn't mind having a practice battle with you sometime. I've been curious about what you unit is like since I first saw you. You don't look like Sho and I do when you are a Guyver. I'm also curious about what the unit does to you, since the Unit-G can increase the physical strength of its host by 100X, and I wouldn't be surprised if you were already stronger than a normal person due to the fact that you are a cyborg."

Sonnet smiled, "My unit is slightly different than yours or Sho's, not just in terms of appearance. From what Taron could learn through their Chronos agents, my unit is a prototype one. It doesn't have a sonic disruptor, as you have probably noticed; it is also stronger than your units. When I become Guyver Blue, my physical strength increases by 200X; the weapons on the armour are different too. Why don't we go to the ruins of the Chronos base at Relics Point? I'll show you then."

"All right, but Relics Point is some distance away, it will take us a while to get there."

"I can get us there right now if you like. I can use some of the capabilities of my armour even if I'm not wearing it."

"OK, Tetsuro, could you let Sho and Mizuki know where we will be?" Agito asked him. As Tetsuro nodded Agito said, "Let's go then Sonnet."

Sonnet stood up from the chair, as did Agito, she put her hands on his shoulders, and they disappeared in a flash of blue light.


	4. Practice Fight 1

Chapter 4: Practice Fight 1

They reappeared several seconds later in what used to be the office of Dr Balcus, before the base had been destroyed. Agito looked around in amazement as Sonnet took her hands off his shoulders.

"Teleportation?"

"Yes, an apparently unique feature of my unit. I can teleport myself anywhere I like within seconds."

"Useful for long distance journeys I suppose. Shall we begin?"

"Ready when you are. GUYVER!"

Instantly, Sonnet's dark blue armour appeared around her and snapped into place. Agito, following her cue, once again summoned his own armour, becoming the purple/black Guyver 3.

"There was one thing you were right about Makishima; I am stronger than most people due to being a cyborg. I have been able to destroy a Gregole using only my bare hands. I am so strong with the armour that no zoanoids can hurt me, especially if I use my ESP powers."

"Will you use those powers now?"

"No Agito, I will only use the powers that the Guyver gives me, including the strength."

"How fast can your armour heal you?"

"I don't know. The worst injury I've ever had was a deep cut down my left leg, which healed in about five minutes."

"Pretty fast, maybe today you will learn how fast your armour heals larger injuries."

Sonnet smiled under her armour at the remark, "You are welcome to try that, Makishima, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"OK. Let's begin."

The two Guyvers then began circling each other, each trying to get the other to make the first move. Agito struck first, he extended all four of his sonic swords and charged at Guyver Blue. Blue reacted to this by teleporting herself behind Guyver 3. As Agito turned to face her again, Blue charged at him, looking as if she was going to punch him in the stomach with her left fist. Just before her move connected with Agito's gut, Blue changed the position of her arm slightly, extended a sonic sword from below the wrist on the back of her arm and skewered Agito with the sword. Agito, amazed, stumbled back, holding his stomach. He then jumped backwards, charging the pressure cannon in mid-air and fired the gravity ball at Blue as he landed. Blue was caught by this, as the blast from the cannon blew her left arm off just below the shoulder. Blue, in response, fired a pressure cannon blast of her own, using only her right hand. As Agito dived out of the way of the gravity ball, Blue picked up what remained of her arm and vaporised it using her right Mega Smasher cannon, she also caught Guyver 3s lower legs in the blast.

[I think that's enough, Guyver 3.] Blue said to him telepathically.

[I agree.] Came his response.

Guyver 3 then waited as the injuries Blue had given him healed. He then stood up and disengaged his armour. Blue, he noticed, had already shut her armour down, and her arm was intact.

_How fast does she heal? _He wondered.

"I told you I healed quickly Makishima. I must congratulate you though: that is the worst injury I have ever sustained."

"You haven't fought another Guyver before though, have you?"

"No, that may have had something to do with it. Shall we return to your friends?"

"In a minute. I thought you didn't have any sonic swords."

"Just because you've never seen me use them, doesn't mean I didn't have any."

"Good point. Let's go."

Sonnet put her hands on his shoulders again and teleported them back Natsuki's apartment.


	5. Practice Fight 2

Chapter 5: Practice Fight 2

The rest of the group, except for Sho, were sleeping when Agito and Sonnet returned to Natsuki's home. The host of Guyver 1 was sitting at a desk, reading.

"I have to admit, that was an interesting experience. I think that Sho and myself should battle you like that regularly, it will be good training for all three of us."

"I don't have any objections to that. Would you fight me one on one or would both of you fight me at once?"

"Could you handle both of us at once?" Sho asked, getting up and walking over to them.

"I don't know. It would be a challenge, and I like a challenge."

"Do you want to battle me now, or would you rather wait, and rest?"

"I don't need to rest Fukamachi; I'll battle you now if you think you're ready."

"I'm ready."

"OK, I'll take you to Relics Point and you can practice against me."

"Let's go then. Bye Agito."

"Bye Sho."

Sonnet put her hands on Sho's shoulders, like she did with Agito and teleported them to a barracks in the ruins of the Relics Point Base.

[I don't know how much of a challenge he will be Blue; let me know if he does better than me.] Agito sent to her as they materialised.

[I will.]

"It looks like Chronos salvaged whatever they could after the base was destroyed in the power struggle between Archanfel and Gyou." Sho remarked looking round.

"Probably. As I told Agito earlier: I am stronger than most people due to being a cyborg. I have been able to destroy a Gregole using only my bare hands. My physical strength is such that, with the armour on, that no zoanoids can hurt me, especially if I use my ESP powers. I won't be using those powers now, by the way."

"Fine Sonnet. Ready when you are, GUYVER!"

Sho's pale blue armour wrapped around him as he called for it. Sonnet called for her armour and once again became Guyver Blue.

"This should be interesting Guyver 1."

The battle proceeded like the one before, only this time when Blue extended her sonic swords, she cut all of Guyver 1s right arm off. As Sho took the pain from this, he fired a few shots from his head laser towards Blue. Blue simply teleported herself to Guyver 1s left and fired her pressure cannon at him. Guyver 1 avoided this and surprised Blue by diving towards her, extending his remaining sonic sword and slicing at her face. Blue jumped away from this attack, only to get her right forearm cut off instead.

[Guyver 1, I think we should stop.]

[I agree.]

Both combatants back down from the fight. They both picked up their severed limbs and reattached them to their bodies. Once they had healed, they shut down their armours.

"By the way Sho, there were many things that I used to think were products of overactive imaginations, until I found out what I was, before my memories returned. You would probably have thought that a Guyver was such a thing, if you hadn't become one."

"Maybe," He admitted, "By the way Sonnet, where does your energy come from?"

"I have a nuclear powered heart inside me that sends energy to wherever it's needed."

"Which is why you don't need sleep or any kind of rest?"

"Correct. Although I can sleep if I want to. Ready to go back?"

When Sho nodded, Sonnet teleported them back to the apartment.


	6. Alliance Agreement

Chapter 6: Alliance Agreement 

In the apartment, Sho noticed that it was nearly 02.00.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Thanks for the practice Sonnet."

"Anytime."

[How did he do?] Agito's voice asked her.

[Quite good, he managed to injure me, although not as much as you.]

[There is something about your story that I don't understand]

[What's that?]

[Your body isn't completely organic, due to your cyborg components. How come it accepted the Unit-G?]

"I don't know," Sonnet replied verbally, sensing Agito walking up next to her, "There must be enough organic material in my body for it to be able to host a Guyver unit."

"I appreciate you trusting us with your identity. I would be grateful if you continue to help Sho and I in our fight against Chronos."

"Is that a request Agito?"

Agito nodded in response.

"On one condition."

"Which is?"

"That you help me when I need it in my fight to destroy Taron."

"Done. I think Sho will agree to this as well."

"Fine with me. I'm going to visit that young woman I mentioned to you earlier tomorrow. So don't be surprised if I'm gone when you wake up later."

"Alright. I'll let the others know."

Agito then went to bed. Sonnet went to the desk that Sho had been sitting at earlier, and realised that he had been trying to determine how much control Chronos had over the media services. She sat reading the same information that Sho had been reading until about 08.00, then she teleported herself to the apartment that her friend Ran, her brother Mutaru, and their Uncle lived in. She had some news for them.


	7. A Few Surprises

Chapter 7: A Few Surprises 

Sonnet appeared in the corridor outside Ran's apartment and knocked on the door. Ran answered the door.

"Hi Sonnet. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to visit. I can come back later if you like."

"No, no. Come on in."

Ran opened the door fully and Sonnet entered. She noticed Ran's Uncle sitting at the computer, typing away. There was no sign of Mutaru.

"Where's your brother?" She asked Ran.

"He's still asleep, he'll be up soon. Hey, Uncle, look who's here."

Her Uncle looked up from the computer, wondering what was going on. He smiled briefly when he saw Sonnet.

"Hello Sonnet. I didn't hear you come in."

"No wonder, you were so engrossed in your typing. What are you working on now?"

"I'm trying to type up some notes I made, for possible novels once this is over. I suspect that the Guyvers will be a key element in defeating Chronos."

Sonnet looked at the desk, where the computer was located. The notes were a large pile about ½ an inch high.

"That is a lot of notes."

"There are some storylines as well."

"Would you like me to do it for you?" Sonnet offered.

"If you don't mind."

"As long as I can talk to the three of you afterwards. I have some news."

"Sure."

Sonnet sat down in the chair as Ran's Uncle got up. She started to type, slowly at first, and she got very fast after a minute. Within 5 minutes, the pile of notes had been copied into the computer.

"I thought you wouldn't take too long, Sonnet," Ran commented, "Your cybernetic systems give you fast reflexes and sharp hand-to-eye coordination."

Sonnet smiled as she moved to sit on the sofa. Ran's Uncle walked in as she sat down.

"You're done already!"

"That was easy, compared to some of the things I've had to do in the past. By the way, they still need to be saved."

"Thanks."

Mutaru entered as Ran sat next to Sonnet on the sofa.

"Morning everyone." He said.

"You said you wanted to talk to us all, Sonnet?" Ran asked.

"Yes, could you sit down for a minute Mutaru?"

Once he had sat down, Sonnet started to talk.

"I have some information that you may be interested in. You all know that I am working in Chronos as a high-level researcher for the Arizona Branch. During my job I hear some interesting things, you are aware that Guyvers 1 & 3 have been opposing Chronos wherever they can and I sometimes help them. I've managed to make an agreement with them where we will help each other with any battles we fight against Chronos or Taron. What I haven't told them is that Chronos has recently found 2 more Guyver units that are awaiting transportation to the Ark. I believe that Archanfel and Imakarum will be receiving them. You are aware of how powerful they would become with a Unit-G."

"We can imagine Sonnet," Ran interrupted, "But why are you telling us this?"

"I intend to steal the Units from them and give them to you and your brother."

There was silence for sometime, until Mutaru asked.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course," Sonnet answered, "Ran. You have ESP abilities that are stronger than anyone else's, due to your blood being that of the ancient race. Mutaru, since you gained some of your sister's blood, you have strong telepathic and reasonable psychic abilities. The two of you would make powerful Guyvers, possibly the strongest in the world. Besides, it's better if the two of you got them than the zoalords."

"I agree with you," Ran said "I'm up to the challenge if you are, Mutaru."

"I'm ready too."

Sonnet smiled, "Good. I'll steal them and bring them here when I have them."

"Wait a second," Ran's Uncle spoke up, "Don't I get a say in this?"

"I thought you would agree to this." Sonnet said.

"I do agree with this, but I want you to train them as best you can once they have their units."

"I'll do that, but what their armour suits are like will affect what I can show them."

"Fine."

"I'd better get going; I've got to be at work by 09.00. By the way, Ran, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure, we should go into the hall."

Sonnet and Ran leave the apartment and enter the corridor outside it.

"What's up?" Ran asked.

"I've been doing some research on Archanfel and the Creators, using what I can find at work. I think I mentioned to you that Archanfel had been made by the Creator Race about 3 million years ago."

"Yeah, you did. What are you getting at?"

"I believe that the blood that runs through you is the same as the blood that runs through the bodies of the Creators, and Archanfel."

Ran looked at Sonnet in silence, and shock, as she realised what her friend was implying.

"You think I'm Creator?"

"It seems like you are to me, you are similar to them at least, like Archanfel is. If I'm right, you may be powerful enough to destroy Archanfel with the aid of a Unit-G."

"I like the sound of that."

Sonnet smiled, "I thought you would. Once I have the Units I'll teleport myself out of the base and find a phone and let you know, then I'll teleport to your apartment."

[I'll also introduce the two new Guyvers to Guyvers 1 &3, once you are ready.] Sonnet sent to Ran as she teleported herself out and to her own apartment in the US.


	8. A New Job

Chapter 8: A New Job 

Once she could afford to, Sonnet had rented herself an apartment in Phoenix so she could get to and from the Arizona Base easily. Besides the main Arizona Base out in the Arizona Desert, Chronos had a building in the city of Phoenix, which was where she worked as a biological researcher.

_I'm not really sure as to how I can successfully steal the units as Guyver Blue if I go into work today, _She thought, _Chronos is aware that there are three active Guyvers, but they only know the identity of two. I'll go into work and think of a plan once I'm there._

Sonnet changed her clothes from the sailor suit that she was wearing into a blue business suit and blue high-heels; she also tied her long hair back into a ponytail and checked her hairpin was in place. She then left her apartment and walked the few streets to the Chronos Phoenix building. Her ID card got her through the security at the front door and to the lab she worked in. Sonnet went to her computer terminal and checked her e-mail. To her surprise, she had a message from Paul Kushtar, one of the more powerful zoalords and the Commander of Chronos' branches in the United States. The message simply told her to report to the Director's Office, Sonnet informed her Supervisor and headed to the office. On the way there she wondered what the zoalord wanted with her, hoping he hadn't discovered who Guyver Blue was. Sonnet pushed aside any doubts and knocked on the office door.

"Come in." came a voice from inside the office.

Sonnet entered the office and took a look around the room. The office had little in the way of comforts, the furniture in the room consisted of a large oak desk and several chairs, only the large leather office chair behind the desk appeared to be for comfort purposes. Sonnet approached the desk, watching the chair swivel round to face her as she did.

"Hello, Sonnet. I'm Paul Kushtar." The large man in the chair introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, sir. What can I do for you?"

"I assume you're up-to-date with the damage that the Guyvers have caused us?" Kushtar asked as he offered her one of the rigid wooded chairs on her side of the desk.

"Yes sir, I am." Sonnet replied, sitting down.

"We have a large problem with them. The 'Guyver-Killer' zoanoids that we are capable of producing are not as effective as they used to be, since they gained the Gigantic armour. We have also had reports of a third Guyver helping them. This new Guyver appears to be more powerful than the other two. It is a little frustrating, because we don't know anything about this third unit, and we can't destroy it because of that lack of knowledge."

"With all due respect, what does this have to do with me?"

"You get to the point, I like that. Researcher Baji, the Chronos Elite have decided that a new kind of Guyver-Killer zoanoid is needed of we are going to defeat the three of them. We do have another plan in the works, but that won't be an option for a few months yet. Until then, the Elite would like you to design, and possibly produce this new class of zoanoid. Your Supervisor speaks highly of you and your commitment to Chronos, and, based on your work record so far, I personally think that you are the best person for the job."

"Thank you."

"There is another detail in this. If you accept this task, you will be transferred to the Chronos Japan Branch, which has the finest technology and resources available to Chronos, within a week and will become one of their chief Researchers and Developers of zoanoids."

_'Finest technology and resources available to Chronos', with the exception of the Ark._ Sonnet thought

"A promotion?" She asked.

"Yes. Do you accept it?"

"Yes."

"Good. You will need to be back here by 22.00 tomorrow night. The transport arrangements have been taken care of; you will get on a helicopter on the roof of this building and be flown to Chronos Japan. Once there, you will report to Dr Balcus, one of our best scientists and he will give you the details of your new position."

"Right."

"Any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Good. You can take the day off to pack up your belongings and inform any friends you have here that you will be leaving. An apartment will be available for you in Tokyo, if you want it, we will also arrange for you e-mail to be sent to the Chronos Japan building from now on. If not you don't want the apartment we offer you, then you can choose something more suitable. Your decision."

"Right, thank you sir."

Sonnet got up, left the office and headed back down to the lab she worked in.

_This is convenient, _she thought, _I will be living in Japan in two days, so there is no way I can be accused of being Guyver Blue if I steal the units before I move. I will also be able to visit Ran more often. I can steal the units now because I will have time, before starting work at the Japan Branch, to get them. I'll have to hide them somewhere though, until I can give them to Ran and Mutaru._

Once back at the lab, she informed her Supervisor of what she had happened. Then she left to return to her apartment and preparing to leave the US.


	9. Finding a New Home

Chapter 9: Finding a New Home 

Sonnet packed two suitcases with the few clothes and possessions she had. She placed the suitcases by her door and spent the day sorting out any details that were part of her life in America. At 20.00, which meant it was 12.00 in Japan, she teleported herself to the roof of the apartment building that Ran lived in. She headed down the stairs to the correct apartment and knocked on the door. Mutaru answered.

"Hello again, Sonnet. What's wrong?" He asked, opening the door to let her in.

"Nothing's wrong, I'd just like to talk to you and your sister."

"OK, Uncle is out, but Ran is in her room. I'll go and get her."

"Thanks."

Sonnet walked to the balcony door and waited for her friends. She only had to wait for a minute before she saw Ran's reflection appear in the window.

"Hi, Sonnet. What's the news?"

"Why do you think I have news?"

"Because you don't usually come just to visit and, given what we were talking about this morning, I assumed you had news."

"I do. I'll be able to obtain the units very soon and deliver them to you, but I thought you would be interested in my new job."

"What's that?" Mutaru asked.

"I've been given a promotion. Starting in two days I'll be working at Chronos Japan as a Head Zoanoid Designer/Developer. That means I'll be able to visit you easier."

"That's good news; it also puts you in a position where Guyver Blue can't be traced to you if you live here in Japan."

"I realised that. Unfortunately, I don't think Chronos will be arrogant of Blue's identity forever. Still, I'll worry about that when it happens. Now, I have a question for you, my friend. Do you know if there are still any apartments available in this building?"

"You want to live near us?"

"Yeah, it also gives you a place to stay should you need it."

"I assume you didn't come in the way most people would?"

"No, why?"

"If there are any apartments available, then there would be a sign either outside, or in the entrance hall, indicating that there were."

"Right, how long will it take for me to be registered if I take an apartment here?"

"Not long. Why don't we go downstairs and see if there are any available and I'll try to answer any questions you have."

"Alright. See you later Mutaru."

"Bye." He replied.

The two women left the apartment and went to the lift. On the way down Sonnet asked.

"Do you know how big the apartments are in this building? Are the all the same size as yours?"

"I don't know, Sonnet. I do know that you can look around the apartment first and decide then."

"Fine."

The lift reached the ground floor and they stepped off.

"You will need a reference before you are accepted as a tenant here. I'm sure Uncle Kyriu would provide you with one."

"Tell him I'd appreciate that. Where to now?"

Ran gestured to the door of the building and started walking that way. To her delight, according to a sign in the window, there were two apartments available to rent. She then enquired at the reception desk and was given the keys to the apartments and where they were. Ran and Sonnet then went to inspect them. The first one was on the top floor of the building and was larger than the one that Ran lived in.

"What do you think?" Ran asked.

"It's nice, big, and looks like it could be very comfortable."

"It would probably a good idea to check out the other one before deciding."

"You read my mind; I didn't think you could read the mind of a machine." Sonnet said, smiling.

"I'm glad I helped you regain your human feelings," Ran stated, "I don't think you would have been as good a friend without them. You wouldn't have had a sense of humour, that's for sure."

"Don't forget, that's partly due to you. When we became friends, you were my initial role model as a human girl."

"I wouldn't have been a very good friend if I had left you as an emotionless machine now would I?"

"You don't want an answer to that, do you?"

"No."

The second apartment was on the same floor as Ran's and was of a similar size.

"I think this one would be better," Sonnet stated, "It's smaller and would probably cost less to rent. It also has adequate space for me to be comfortable."

"Your decision, Sonnet."

"I'm going to enquire about this one, what's the number?"

"407."

"Right. Are you coming?"

"No, I'll meet up with you later."

"OK."

Sonnet went down and checked about renting the preferred apartment. The Landlady told her that it could be hers within two days as long as she could get a reference. She told the receptionist that she should be able to get one and said she would check back later. She then went back to Ran's. Once she was inside, and seated in the sofa, Ran asked,

"Good news?"

"I can move in within the next few days if I get a reference. Do you know when your Uncle will be home?"

"Mutaru said that he called while we were enquiring. He'll be back within an hour."

"Good. Ran, could I ask your opinion on something?"

"Sure."

"You know I had a mock battle with Guyver 3 earlier?"

"Yeah, you said he had given you the worst injury you had ever had because he blasted your arm off."

"That's right. Can you remember what I said to you just after I became Guyver Blue?"

"You said you like to become human again, without the cyborg part of you."

"Right again," Sonnet smiled, "I think there is a way that I can be human again."

"How?"

"When my arm had regenerated, it felt different. I think the armour replaced only the organic elements to my arm."

"That's great news, if it's true. Do you have a way of finding out?"

"I need to get injured on that arm to see if anything is different."

"How will you do that?"

"I don't know yet."


	10. Answering Questions

Chapter 10: Answering Questions 

"I have an idea." Mutaru said, from the chair near the balcony door.

"What's that?"

"I assume that nothing is wrong with your other arm? The one that has never been blown or cut off?"

"No there isn't."

"So your reflexes will still be the same?"

"Yes. Where are you going with this?"

"I'll be back in a minute." Mutaru said, and left the room.

Ran looked thoughtful for a second.

"What?" Sonnet asked, "I've seen that look before."

"My brother is going to get something to throw at you, to test your reflexes."

"That won't help me to determine if my arm is completely organic now."

"He has something else in mind. I don't know what, though."

"How?"

"He just told me telepathically."

Mutaru re-entered the room and said,

"Here Sonnet, catch this."

He then threw a tennis ball at Sonnet and, before Ran realised that Sonnet had moved, Sonnet caught it easily.

"Very good reflexes," She commented, "What else are you holding?"

"This."

Mutaru then handed Sonnet a sharp knife and a few small towels.

"I see what you are thinking Mutaru."

"Are you serious, Sonnet?"

"Yes Ran, your brother is right. If I cut my arm with the knife I'll know if anything is different."

Sonnet removed her jacket, rolled up her shirtsleeves and then pressed the knife on the skin of her arm and cut herself with the blade. A small amount of blood poured from the cut, but Sonnet didn't react. Mutaru then passed her a cloth, which she used to wipe up the blood and clean the knife blade.

"That was my original arm. I'll try my regenerated arm now."

Sonnet repeated the cut on her other arm. The same thing happened with that arm as well.

"Maybe I was wrong, it is still mechanical." Sonnet said, looking inside her arm.

"So you can't become human again." Ran stated.

"Apparently not, but maybe this is better. With my cybernetic components, I'm stronger and can withstand more damage than I would with a human body."

"Plus the unit increases those characteristics." Mutaru pointed out.

"That's true, alright; I should be able to get your units within a day or two. Once you have become Guyvers I'll teach you how to use the various weapons and abilities that it gives a host."

"That's good," Ran said, "We'll wait for you to obtain them. I'm sorry it didn't work"

[Forget it Ran, I'll find a way someday. Until then, due to my unit, I'm practically immortal.]

"OK, I'll let you know when I have them. I'm just going to deal with these cuts."

Sonnet teleported herself to the roof of the building and summoned her armour to heal the cuts. She shut it down once she had healed and teleported back to the apartment.

"That was fast." Ran commented.

"My armour heals me very quickly," Sonnet replied, "Ran, I think I know why my regenerated arm felt different than the arm I had before."

"Why's that?"

"My regenerated arm is a cloned arm, not my original one."

"That could be it."

"Yes, since I'm more aware of my skin and muscles conditions, due to the technology inside me, I probably noticed something that other Guyvers wouldn't be aware of."

At that moment, the door opened and Ran's Uncle entered the apartment.

"Hello, everyone," He said, "Back again Sonnet? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Sonnet stated, "But I do have a request, Mr Kyriu"

"Which is?"

"I've been offered a promotion in Chronos. It involves me working for the Japan Branch, because of that; I've been looking at the spare apartments in this building. I've seen one that I like, but I need a reference before I can move in. Would you supply one?"

"That's all?"

"Yes."

"Gladly." Kyriu said.

"Thank you. Within a week, you should have a new neighbour."

"That will be fun!" Mutaru commented.

"Come on Sonnet," Kyriu said, "I'll write it now and then we can take it to the Landlady. Sort this out as fast as possible."

"OK."

Within an hour Kyriu and Sonnet had dealt with the paperwork for Sonnet's apartment. Sonnet was then told that she would have the apartment in the two days she had been promised. Kyriu invited her to stay at their apartment until then. Sonnet accepted, and went back to the apartment to give her friends the news. Then she teleported herself back to her former apartment in America.


	11. The Theft

Chapter 11: The Theft 

When Sonnet returned, she realised that it was 03.19, during the night shift in the Phoenix Building. It would be a good time to steal the units, but she would have to avoid any confrontations with Paul Kushtar whilst she was there.

_I know, _she thought, _I've seen people doing scans on the two dormant units. When I was in there this morning, they were still in the lab. I could teleport myself directly into the lab and steal them, doing as much damage as possible in the process. I may be identified as Guyver Blue_ _but no one should know who I really am._

Sonnet summoned her armour, becoming the now familiar Guyver Blue. She pictured the lab in her mind and teleported herself there. Her old workplace was in complete darkness, there was no one within range of her unit's sensor orbs. This surprised her, because the units were being kept there before they were transported to the Ark, security should have been very high. The units were still there, but there were several metal doors between her and the units, as well as laser beams that would trigger the alarms if broken. Sonnet smiled under her armour.

_Chronos will learn a little more about Guyver Blue tonight, _she thought_, those blast doors couldn't withstand my strength without the armour. With it in use, they are even less of an obstacle to me. The laser beams are also easy to defeat, I'll simply float over them. The security cameras in the room will see me, so security will be in the room within minutes. I can handle the regular zoanoids, the Hyper zoanoids will be a little tougher, but I can beat them too. If Kushtar, or any of the zoalords, make an appearance I'll have a problem. But, if I'm fast enough, I'll have the units before Chronos can react._

Guyver Blue began her attack: she teleported herself to the first of the doors and punched it with her armoured fist, it was destroyed easily. She had managed to destroy three doors before the alarms sounded.

'_Warning, the three Guyvers are in the building,'_ a male voice announced over a speaker, '_one is in the Research Wing and the other two are in the Storage Area. All zoanoids find them and destroy them.'_

_Yeah, good luck, _Sonnet sarcastically thought, _why are _Sho _and _Agito_ here? Are they trying to destroy this base?_

[Guyver 1, Guyver 3, what are the two of you doing?] She asked telepathically.

[I suspect we are all here for the same reason,] Guyver 3s voice said [To steal the four Guyver units before they are used by Chronos]

[Four units?] Blue replied, surprised, breaking down the last of the doors in the process, [I thought there were only two]

[I'll explain later,] Guyver 3 replied, [Do what you came here to do and meet us in the place we learned the truth about you]

[OK, see you later.]

As Blue grabbed the two dormant units she wondered,

_Why wasn't I aware of four units, only two? Oh well, I'll meet up with them and find out._

Blue teleported out with the units, left them in her apartment and then returned to the building. She materialised in the lab she used to work in and began charging a pressure cannon blast in each hand.

[Let me know when you are out of the building.] She sent to the other Guyvers.

[We're already clear, Blue.] Guyver 1 replied.

_Good!_ Sonnet thought, and fired her pressure cannons. The weapons blasted away a large portion out of the lab and several others in the process. Satisfied with her handiwork, Blue teleported herself to the clearing where Guyver 3 had said to meet. Guyver 3 and Gigantic Guyver were already there, waiting for her.

"What did you do after we teleported out?" Gigantic Guyver asked her.

"I blasted away several of the research labs. It should affect the base's research for some time. It might even affect their zoanoid production levels."

"OK," Guyver 3 said, "We need to talk."

"I agree," Blue commented, "Could you always teleport?"

"No," Guyver 1 answered, "We can only do it when either of us is using the upgrade."

"I see. OK, how come you knew there were four units and not two?"

"I don't know if you're aware of this," Guyver 3 said, "But I used to work in Chronos. I had some sources within Chronos who informed me of the newly discovered units."

"Members of Zeus' Thunderbolt?" Blue asked.

"How did you know that?"

"I heard things from Taron, before I went rogue."

"Alright, our turn," Guyver 1 stated, de-activating the Gigantic Armour as he said this, "How did you know about the two units you have stolen?"

"I work within Chronos and I heard through some of my colleagues who are highly placed, but I wasn't aware that there were four units."

"I only found out recently. I asked Sho if he would help me to steal them because he has a finer control over the Gigantic than I do, he agreed to help but he had a price tag."

"I suppose you want the units you have to go to two of your friends that you introduced me to the other day."

"Right," Guyver 3 answered, "My friend Shizu will get one, whilst Sho's girlfriend Mizuki will get the other. What about you?"

"One will be given to that young woman I told you about and the other will go to her brother, who, by the way, also has ESP abilities."

"Which are?" Agito asked.

"He is a strong telepath, and he has fairly strong psychic abilities."

"OK, that's fair enough. You'll have to bring us all to where we had our training sessions the other day so that we can get-to-know each other."

"I was planning to do something like that anyway. OK, I've got to go. I'll see you later."

With that, Sonnet teleported herself to her empty apartment in America. She checked that the Guyver units were still there and decided to go and give them to Ran and Mutaru. Since it was 04.23 on her watch, she realised it must be about 20.23 in Japan, so she picked up the units and teleported herself to Ran's apartment.


	12. Group Additions

Chapter 12: Group Additions

When she arrived, the curtains in the main room were shut. Ran was sitting on the sofa, reading. She didn't appear to be surprised that Guyver Blue had appeared.

"Hello." She said.

"Hi," Sonnet replied, shutting down her armour.

"Before you say anything," Ran said, "I know why you're here."

"Why am I here?"

"You have got the units from Chronos and are going to give them to me and my brother."

"How did you know?"

"I had a vision," Mutaru said, walking into the room, "I saw you firing your pressure cannon in what appeared to be a lab."

"Right on both counts. I stole the units from Chronos and then destroyed the main research lab for the Phoenix Building."

"They are to become Guyvers then?" Kyriu said.

"Yes, although I don't think this is the best place for the merging to take place. Mutaru, Ran each of you take one of these units, but don't do anything with them yet. I'll take you to somewhere where this can be done without harming anyone."

She looked at Kyriu.

"You can come if you want. I can protect you if something goes wrong."

"No that's OK, I'll stay here."

"Fine, see you later."

"Bye Uncle." Ran and Mutaru said.

Sonnet put a hand on each of her friends shoulders and teleported them to a processing lab in the ruins of Relics Point.

"What do we do now, Sonnet?" Ran asked.

"You need to touch the control medal in the centre of the unit and then let it merge with you. The other Guyvers told me that it was very painful and that you may lose consciousness during the merging."

"They 'told you' it was painful?" Ran asked, "Wasn't the merging painful to you too?"

"No Ran, I don't feel much pain. It's another side-effect of being a cyborg."

"OK, Here I go," Mutaru said, "Ready sis?"

"As I'll ever be."

Ran put her hand on her units control medal and then held the unit in front of her face as it began to glow. As it jumped from its casing, Mutaru also held his unit in front of his face. Within seconds, both units were merging with their hosts. Sonnet became Guyver Blue and observed the merging.

[Blue, can you hear me?] Guyver 1s voice said in her head.

[Perfectly. What's wrong, Guyver 1?]

[You know how we said we would be giving the units we stole to two friends of ours?]

[Yes.]

[It's strange, only one of them seems to work. Are you at our training location?]

[Yes. My two friends are in the process of merging with their units.]

[Guyver 3 and myself are on our way. Along with our newest Guyver, I'll introduce you.]

[OK. I'll introduce the three of you to my friends as well then.]

[See you in a few minutes.]

With that the telepathic conversation was ended. Blue then observed the final stages of the merging and then tried to telepathically awaken them. Mutaru regained consciousness first and took a look at what his armour looked like. Mutaru was a jet black Guyver, with a similar appearance to Guyver 3, but with only two sonic swords on each forearm. Before Blue could attempt to awaken Ran, Gigantic Dark arrived with Guyver 1 and a Guyver that looked similar to Guyver 1, but coloured like faded silver. The Gigantic armour was de-activated and Guyver 3 then vented steam through his mouth vents.

"Hello Blue." Guyver 1 greeted.

"Nice to see you," She replied, "Are you Mizuki?" she then asked the silver Guyver.

"Yes I am." Was the synthesised reply, with a female voice.

"So much for an introduction." Guyver 1 said sarcastically.

"I'll talk to you both in a minute," Blue said, "I want to wake up my friend."

Sonnet then woke Ran up using her units' telepathic abilities. Ran's unit was coloured blood red. Blue then sent a telepathic instruction to Ran and Mutaru, telling them how to disengage their units. Agito, Sho and Mizuki did likewise.

"OK, I guess we can introduce each other," Sonnet said, "Mizuki, these are my friends Ran and Mutaru." She pointed to each of them as she said their names.

"Ran, Mutaru, this is Mizuki Segawa, a close friend of Sho. Sho and Agito," She added, again pointing to each of them, "are Guyvers 1 and 3, respectively."

After the introductions had been dealt with, all six reactivated their armours.

"I think we should sort out names for the new Guyvers." Sho said.

"I agree," Blue replied, "I'll show Ran and Mutaru how to use their units. I presume one of you will show Mizuki?"

"Yes, we'll both will." Agito replied.

"OK," Blue turned to her two friends, "What do you want to be called when you are using your armours? We can't call you by name because it would give Chronos a clue to your identity and we want to leave them in the dark as long as we can."

"I can understand that," Ran said, "I think I'll be 'Guyver Red'."

"Sounds good to me." Agito pointed out observing the colour of her armour.

"Mutaru?"

"I don't really want to be know as 'Guyver Black'," he said, "It sounds a little silly."

"Are you the one that Blue said had psychic abilities?" Guyver 1 asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

"OK, how about 'Psychic Guyver'?" Guyver 1 suggested.

The jet-black Guyver thought about it for a minute.

"I like that. I'm Psychic Guyver then."

"That's sorted then," Guyver 3 said, "What about you Mizuki?"

"I don't know," she replied, "Like Mutaru, I don't want to be a colour. But I don't have any abilities that I could use for this."

"OK." Blue spoke up, "Why don't we just call you Guyver 5? Chronos is aware of the three of us, and there was Guyver 2 that Chronos originally discovered, and Sho destroyed. That makes four overall. If we call you Guyver 5, then Chronos will think that there are only four active units and not six, for the time being at least."

"OK," the silver Guyver replied, "Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Plus 'Guyver 5' sounds pretty cool."

"That's sorted then." Guyver 3 stated.

"By the way Blue," Guyver 1 said, "Take a look at this."

Guyver 1 passed her another dormant unit. This one looked similar to any other dormant unit, but there was one big difference: it had a diamond shaped control medal.

"Is this the one that you tried to give Shizu that didn't work?"

"Yeah, we don't know why."

Guyver Blue took a close look at the unit, trying to see if it was damaged or something that would prevent it from merging with a host. As she looked closely at the diamond shaped control medal, to the surprise of the other five people in the room, it began to glow, and her own medal also began to glow. Before Blue could react, the unusual unit jumped from its casing and began to merge with her!

"Sonnet!" Ran screamed.

[No, don't do anything.] Guyver 3s voice said, in the minds of all the Guyvers, [I think I know what's going on.]

"What's that?" Psychic Guyver asked verbally, since he didn't know how to use the telepathic organisms yet.

"I think that unusual unit wouldn't merge with my friend Shizu because it can't work by itself."

"You think it's an upgrade for Sonnet's unit?" Guyver Red asked him.

"Yeah, I do. We'll know soon."

"How?" Psychic Guyver asked.

"When I was becoming Guyver Gigantic," Guyver 1 explained, "The Relic that I was in grew a cocoon around me and made the upgrade unit for my armour whilst I was in the cocoon."

"So if a cocoon grows around Blue, then her armour will be being upgraded?" Guyver Red asked.

"Right." Guyver 1 replied.

The cocoon appeared around Blue and Guyver 3 confirmed that Sho was like that before he became Guyver Gigantic.

"How long did it take?" Guyver Red asked.

"Six months."

"What! You mean Blue won't be available for six months!" Guyver Red screamed at Guyvers 1 & 3.

"Not necessarily," Guyver 3 said, "The unit that she has appeared to be more advanced than Sho's or mine. It's possible that the upgrade won't take very long with her."

"I hope so." Psychic Guyver commented.

"I'm curious as to what she will look like in her upgraded state," Guyver 5 spoke up, "The two of you look quite different when you use the Gigantic Armour."

As she said this, to the amazement of everyone in the room, the cocoon began to open up. Within a few minutes, it had completely disappeared. In its place, stood a 10-foot tall, dark blue, Guyver. Guyver Blue now had three sonic swords on each forearm; the sonic disruptor was also visible near her 'mouth'.

"She doesn't look too different to me." Psychic commented.

"I'm going to try to wake her up," Guyver 1 said, "This could take some time." He added as his control medal began to glow.

"We'll wait." Guyver Red said, indicating her brother as well as herself.

"I don't want to go anywhere until I see that she is OK," Guyver 5 stated, "Although I haven't known her very long. I think she and I could become good friends."

"Just like we all will, in time, Guyver 5." Red stated.

"I hope so." Guyver 5 replied.

"Hey, he's done it." Guyver 3 said, noticing Blue's control medal had started to glow in sync with Guyver 1s.

The 10-foot tall Guyver fully woke up and took a look at herself.

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"The unusual unit appears to have been designed as an upgrade to your armour," Guyver 3 said, "It responded to your control medal, but it wouldn't respond to any of ours."

"You tried it?"

Guyver 3 nodded.

"Hold on, I'm going to attempt to de-activate it."

Blue's control medal (now diamond shaped) began to flash. The new armour then disappeared, leaving the more familiar form of Guyver Blue that Agito and Sho knew.

"It appears that your control medal changes with the use of that upgrade." Guyver 1 pointed out.

"That could be useful," Blue stated, "It might make Chronos think that there are 7 active Guyvers, instead of 6. That is once they are aware of your existence." She added, referring to the new Guyvers.

"It looks like we have to come up with a new name for you as well Blue," Guyver 3 said, "For when you are using your upgrade."

"Good point," Blue agreed, "I can't use something obvious, like 'Hyper Blue' or 'Gigantic Blue'. That would tip off Chronos. Any ideas?"

"I have one," Guyver 5 said, "How about you test your upgrade, to see if it gives you any other unique abilities that could be used as a code-name."

"Alright."

Guyver Blue summoned her upgrade and accessed her control medal. She realised that the upgrade had given her a few new abilities and weapons. There was one ability, however, that she liked the sound of and tried to use it. It worked, to the eyes of the other Guyvers; she disappeared.

"Where is she?" Guyver 1 asked, "I can't sense her anywhere."

"Neither can I," Guyver 3 said, "It's like she's immune to our sensor orbs."

"WHERE DID YOU GO TO?" Red shouted.

"No need to shout," Blue's voice came from behind her, "I'm right behind you."

She then reappeared standing behind Red.

"Don't do that please." Red said.

"I won't do it again," Blue promised removing the upgrade as she spoke, "But it has helped me decide a code-name."

"What's that?" Agito asked.

['Stealth Guyver'] Psychic Guyver said into all of their minds.

"He took it out of my mouth." Blue stated.

"I think that's good," Guyver 5 said, "You couldn't be detected at all, you might as well have been a shadow."

"Thanks, 5." Blue said.

"OK, it's getting late," Guyver 3 said, "Should we all meet back here tomorrow morning and begin training our new allies?"

"Yeah, I think we should," Red stated, "Uncle may be getting concerned about us."

"I'll teleport you both home then," Blue said, "See the three of you tomorrow."

"Yeah, we'll contact you when we're ready."

"OK, bye."

Sonnet deactivated her armour and told Ran and Mutaru to do the same. Once they had, she put a hand on each of their shoulders and teleported them to their apartment.


	13. Moving Day

Chapter 13: Moving Day

As the three of them materialised in the apartment, Ran noticed her Uncle sitting on the chair in the lounge, apparently waiting for them.

"You were gone for quite a while." He said.

"Sorry if you were worried," Mutaru said, "We had a small surprise take place while we were away."

"Which was?"

"Sonnet has an upgrade for her unit."

"Really, you're already more powerful than the other two Guyvers."

"Five, Uncle." Ran added.

"Sorry. Of course, five. As far as you know at least. Either way, you could be the best chance that the world has of defeating Chronos."

Unless my theory about Ran's blood is right. Sonnet thought.

"Yes, I may well be." She said, out loud.

"We will begin getting training from Blue tomorrow." Mutaru said.

"By the way, Sonnet. Do you know what time you are supposed to arrive at the Chronos Japan building?"

"No, why?"

"I thought you might like a lift from the building to here when you are ready to come here."

"I appreciate that; I'll inform Ran or Mutaru when I'm ready."

"OK."

"Speaking of which, I've got to be at the Phoenix Building in an hour. I'd better return to my old apartment."

"See you later then." Mutaru said.

"Bye, everyone." She replied.

Sonnet then teleported herself to her former apartment looked around to ensure that she hadn't left anything and then picked up her suitcases and left her apartment, giving the key to the Landlord as she left. The walk to the Phoenix Building only took her a few minutes, so she arrived at 21.30, half an hour before she was supposed to leave. As she entered the building, she was asked to report to the roof to board the helicopter that would take her to Japan. On board the helicopter she found a note from the staff that she had worked with, wishing her luck with her promotion. She was surprised that she hadn't been informed about the attack on the building.

_Maybe Chronos don't think I'm important enough to inform about something like that,_ she thought, as the helicopter lifted off, _could Chronos suspect that I had something to do with it? No, I don't think they would have any proof of that to use against me. I suppose I'll find out in Japan._

The helicopter landed on the roof of the Japan Building at about 13.39 (Japan time). As she left the helicopter, a Chronos soldier approached her. The soldier took her two suitcases from her and told her that he had been ordered to escort her to Dr. Balcus. Sonnet followed the soldier, thinking as she went.

This looks just like the Phoenix Building. I wonder if the labs are any different? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

The soldier took up a guard position next to a door that looked identical to the others she had seen, during the walk, put down her suitcases and gestured her inside. Dr. Balcus had a very stark office, compared to the one that Kushtar had in Phoenix. This office only had a large chair with its back to the door, similar to Kushtar's and a large monitor covering the wall in front of the chair. No other furniture was in the room.

"Greetings Sonnet." A strong, commanding voice said.

The large chair then swivelled round so that the occupant, Dr. Balcus, could see her.

"Dr. Balcus," Sonnet said, nodding her head in greeting, "I was ordered to report to you when I arrived."

"Yes. Now that you work as a Zoanoid Developer for Chronos Japan, you are answerable to me. You will report back here at 09.00 tomorrow morning. Until then you are free to do anything you need to do. The guard outside will escort you to your apartment, and give you your Chronos Japan ID card."

"I was informed that I could select my own accommodation, if I wanted to."

"You don't hesitate to speak your mind, I like that. Do you have something else arranged?"

"Yes, I have some friends who live in Japan. I informed them of my promotion in the 'Medical' company that I work at involved me moving to Japan. The apartment building that they live in had a few spare, so I'm going to get one there. Until that is done, I've been invited to stay with them."

"Fair enough," Balcus said, "They don't know you work for Chronos, why didn't you tell them?"

"They aren't too keen about Chronos; I don't think they would be too friendly to me if they learned I worked for you."

"I understand that. Until tomorrow then."

"Yes, I'll report here tomorrow morning."

"Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

Sonnet then left the office and asked the guard to show her to the ground floor of the building. When he had done this, as well as giving her a small brown envelope, she thanked him, took her suitcases back and left the building. She went to the first public phone that she found, and dialled Ran's number.

"Hello?"

"Mutaru, its Sonnet."

"Hi Sonnet, are you in Japan?"

"Yes. I was wondering if your uncle could come and pick me up."

"Where are you?"

Sonnet gave him her location and was told that Kyriu would be there within 5 minutes. She then put the phone down and waited, opening the envelope while she kept a look out for Kyriu's jeep. The envelope contained her new Chronos Japan ID card, as well as pass cards for the various security doors in the building. Kyriu arrived in his jeep in a short time and Sonnet got in.

"Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem."

They arrived at the apartment building and Kyriu walked with Sonnet to her temporary home. Once inside the apartment, he put her suitcases down and offered her a seat on the sofa. Ran and Mutaru joined them.

"Pleasant flight Sonnet?" Ran asked.

"Yes, I got a note from the Phoenix staff wishing me luck as I left there. I wasn't informed about the attack and theft by the Guyvers though."

"Is that so strange?" Kyriu asked.

"Yes, the lab I work in gets destroyed by the three Guyvers and the two Unit-G's that I was examining are stolen, and Chronos doesn't tell me."

"Maybe they don't want to worry you with details for a branch you don't work for anymore." Kyriu suggested.

"Possible," Sonnet replied, "Do you two feel like a little training?"

"In a few minutes, yes." Ran replied.

"Mutaru?"

"Yeah."

"Before we do, Sonnet, will you need to unpack any of your things?" Ran asked her.

"Yes, I'd like to change out of this suit, before we start combat training."

Sonnet removed a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a pair of white trainers from one of the cases and went into one of the bathrooms in the apartment.

"OK then, ready when you are." Mutaru said.

"Should we invite the others?" Ran asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea at the moment, not Sho or Agito anyway," Sonnet stated, walking back into the main room, wearing the different clothes, "Once the two of you, and Mizuki, have had some practice with your armours we could try battling each other."

"That'll be interesting." Mutaru said.

"Where should we go?" Sonnet asked, tying her long hair into as ponytail as she spoke, "I can teleport us anywhere on the planet."

"What's wrong with returning to Relic's Point?" Kyriu asked.

"Nothing really, I just think it's a good idea to vary where we meet, as Guyvers. It'll keep Chronos on their guard if we be as erratic as possible."

"Makes sense." Kyriu agreed.

"How about the Sahara Desert?" Ran suggested.

"Why not? The armour should neutralise the heat you would normally feel there. Mutaru?"

"Ready when you are."

"Later, Uncle."

Sonnet again placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and they disappeared in a flash of blue light.


	14. Combat Training

Chapter 14: Combat Training 

"You should activate your armours!" Sonnet said urgently, as she moved away from them.

Ran and Mutaru quickly did so. Sonnet waited for a minute, to allow the armours to cool their hosts down, and for the blast fields to fade, before saying

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't you bio-boost as well?" Red asked.

"Right, I should. GUYVER!"

Within a few seconds, Guyver Red, Guyver Blue and Psychic Guyver were standing in the Sahara Desert. Blue moved towards her friends, extending the sonic swords from her wrists as she did so, and explaining to Red and Psychic how to activate their swords.

Psychic's sensor orbs suddenly began to move.

"Who's there?" he demanded, looking round him.

"Relax, Psychic," a voice said, "It's only me."

Guyver 5 then landed next to them.

"Guyver 5!"

"Agito's right," Guyver 5 said, "Teleportation is a little difficult to control."

Sonnet smiled beneath her armour.

"You got my message then?"

"Yes, very clearly too."

"What are you two talking about?" Red asked.

"I sent her a brief message as we materialised here, inviting her to join us. I thought she would like to train with us and observe us."

"And you came along." Red stated.

"Yes, I want to learn from Sho, Agito and Sonnet in how to use this armour."

"Can you activate your swords?" Psychic asked.

Guyver 5 held both of her arms before her and the two sonic swords on her forearms extended, followed by one from each of her wrists.

"Guyver 1 showed me how to do this before we left Relic's Point," she said, "I didn't realise that I had blades in my wrists as well as my forearms. Guyver 3 was a little shocked too; he was standing in front of me when I released the blades."

"So you stabbed him!?" Red asked.

"Yes, Sho found that quite funny. I don't think Agito was amused though."

"No, I bet he wasn't." Psychic said.

Red and Psychic Guyvers were clearly amused by this. Sonnet found it funny, but she didn't laugh about it.

"We came here for a little training." She reminded her friends.

"OK, OK we're ready."

"I think we should split up and have a one-on-one fight with another Guyver; using only the swords, start off with the simple weapons." Blue suggested.

"Good idea, Blue." Guyver 5 agreed, "Mind if I battle with you, Red?"

"No. I think we will be evenly matched."

"OK, are you ready for this?" Blue asked her sparing partner."

"Yeah, bring it on!"

"No other restrictions though, you can injure your 'opponent'." [You need to learn to cope with injury and pain, 5; it's part of being a Guyver.]

[I know.] Mizuki sent back, [Guyver 1 and Guyver 3 were injured pretty badly during the battle at Relic's Point.]

The two pairs of Guyvers quickly began fighting each other. Psychic managed to stab Blue in mid-thigh and Blue, in return, stabbed him in a shin. Guyver 5 had her left hand cut off by Red, and managed to cut Red's left forearm in return.

[Guyver Blue, we need your help.] Guyver 3s telepathic voice suddenly entered her head. [There is a large group of zoanoids spread out all through Takamatsu, Guyver 1 and I are doing what we can, but we could use some backup.]

[We're on our way,] Blue replied, [Can you show me your exact location?]

Blue waited for the image to appear in her mind before turning to the others.

"It looks like you'll be getting some combat experience. We need to go to Takamatsu."

"Where in Takamatsu?" Guyver 5 asked, reattaching her severed hand.

Blue sent her the image she had received from Guyver 3.

"OK, I know where to go. Give me your hand Red."

Red did so and, in a flash of white light the two Guyvers vanished. Blue grabbed Psychic's arm and teleported them to the location of Guyver 3.


	15. First Real Combat

Chapter 15: First Real Combat 

The four Guyvers appeared on the rooftop of an apartment block in Takamatsu. Blue was surprised that Guyver 5 was able to teleport herself, but decided to wait until later to ask questions. Her sensor orbs moved, tracking all the zoanoids in Takamatsu, as well as the other Guyvers.

[Guyver 3, can you hear me?] Blue telepathically asked.

[Yes, I can hear you. Where are you?]

[We're on the roof of the building behind you. I'm going to get the others to work in a trio against any zoanoids they encounter. I'll help you and Guyver 1 clear out as many of them as possible.]

[That's Gigantic Guyver, actually.] Guyver 1s voice entered her mind, [Are you sure the new ones are ready?]

[As ready as they can be, given the circumstances.]

[Could you quit talking, and help us out here?] Guyver 3 demanded.

[Of course.] "Guyver 5, you Guyver Red and Psychic Guyver should work as a team here, so you can help each other if necessary."

"OK, Blue," Red replied, checking she had control of her arm, "Should we just start in a specific spot?"

"That's up to you; start where you think is best. Good luck."

The four Guyvers then split up and began working on destroying the zoanoids. Most of them, to Blue's relief, appeared to be weaker model zoanoids like Gregole, Vamore and Ramotith types. They should be easy enough to destroy using only sonic swords. The more experienced Guyvers, however, use all the weaponry that they have.

[Any idea how many of these things there are?] Blue asked Guyver 3.

[We tracked at least 105 of them enter the town, unless more have entered since.]

[We should be able to handle them.]

Blue then fired a pressure cannon blast from each hand and destroyed a pair of oncoming Ramotith. She suddenly felt a jolt pass through her.

[The Gigantic armour has shut down!] Guyver 5 said into her mind. [Sho has collapsed!]

[Where are you?] Guyver 3 asked.

The location appeared in the minds of Guyver Blue and Guyver 3. Blue quickly teleported them there.

"Guyver 5, try to wake Guyver 1 up," Guyver 3 said. "I'll cover you."

Guyver 3 began to summon the Gigantic cocoon. As the armour took shape behind him, a Vamore blasted him with his bio-lasers before he could merge with it. Blue stood in front of the armour and quickly blasted the zoanoid before it could take the armour. As the zoanoid dissolved, a surprising thing happened: the Gigantic armour wrapped itself around Blue! Guyver 3 stood up and looked at Blue in shock.

"Blue, is that you in there?"

"Yes, the armour has merged with me." She replied, "Get the others on to a rooftop. You and I can take the rest."

"How many are left?"

"I can sense 11."

"I can only sense 6. What's the range of your sensor orbs?"

"About 600 metres, I think."

"With the Gigantic?"

"Yes, I can only scan within 500 without it."

Blue, quickly placed her hands in front of her and extended her swords, she then charged down the street they were in and sliced apart any zoanoid she saw. Through Guyver 3s sensors, the zoanoids dropped like flies. Within two minutes, he couldn't sense any more in the area.

"Nice work, Blue," Guyver 5 said, helping Guyver 1 stand up, "They're all destroyed."

"How can you tell?" Guyver 1 asked her, standing next to Guyver 5.

"My sensor orbs can scan up to 800 metres away."

"You have better sensors than I do then," Blue said, disengaging the Gigantic armour, "Thanks, Sho. That armour is very powerful."

"Blue. I think we need to talk." Guyver 3 said.

"Right. Should we go to Relic's Point?"

"Probably the best place, for now."

Blue teleported herself, Guyver 1 and Guyver 3 to Relic's Point while Guyver 5 teleported the others to Relic's Point.


	16. Planning A Counterstrike

Chapter 16: Planning a Counter strike 

The six friends materialised in the Relic's Point Base, inside a large storage area. They then all shut down their armours and sat on whatever was available.

"One question, Sonnet, did you know that you could use the Gigantic?" Sho asked.

"I didn't, no. I was surprised when it merged with me."

"You have two upgrades then." Agito pointed out.

"It'll drive Chronos nuts." Mutaru added.

"I suppose it would," Mizuki said, "They might start thinking that there are eight Guyvers, when really there are only six."

"I'll keep you posted on what they think about the Guyvers," Sonnet stated, "Now, Mizuki, it appears as if your armour has a few special characteristics as well."

"I don't know," She replied, "The only one I know about for sure is the teleportation ability."

"Still, it's possible that your armours also have some extra features." Sho stated, looking at Ran and Mutaru.

"Good," Agito commented, "More surprises for Chronos then."

"What should we do now?" Sho asked.

"Well," Sonnet began, "We were training in the Sahara Desert before you called for help. I was planning on returning there, with Ran, Mutaru and Mizuki. What about the two of you?"

"Actually, I was thinking of giving Chronos a headache," Agito said, "Sonnet, between the six of us, I think we could destroy the Phoenix Branch, especially since you've already damaged it."

"I'm up for that," Sonnet stated, "What about the rest of you?" she asked, turning to Mizuki, Mutaru, Ran and Sho.

Sonnet received a series of nods from each of them.

"Fine, we'll have to split into two groups, but we should be able to do it."

"By the way," Agito asked, "How do you new Guyvers feel when using your weapons?"

"It's easier than I thought it would be." Mutaru said.

"I think the control medal shows you what to do," Sonnet said, "For me, whenever I discovered a new weapon, the medal seemed to 'tell' me how to use it."

"I had that too." Sho confirmed.

"Good," Mizuki commented, "We won't have to spend too much time learning how to use the armours then."

"No," Sonnet agreed, "But regular training would be a good thing."

Sonnet received another series of nods from the others in the room.

"I think we should go now." Sho stated, "The sooner we go, the sooner we can come back."

"I agree," Agito said, "By the way, Sho, I want to use the Gigantic for this."

"OK with me."

"Are you going to use your upgrade?" Mutaru asked Sonnet.

"No," she replied, "I don't think I'll need to use it, unless we have to fight Paul Kushtar while we're there."

"He's using the Phoenix Branch as his base, is he?" Agito asked.

"Yes, he gave me my promotion and transfer to Japan the other day," Sonnet replied, "GUYVER!"

Sonnet's dark blue Guyver armour wrapped around her. As she vented steam through her mouth vents she noticed the others summon their own units, Agito adding the Gigantic before signalling he was ready. The six Guyvers split into two groups of three, Guyvers 1, 5 and Gigantic Dark in one, and Guyvers Blue, Red and Psychic in the other.

"Remember to avoid Kushtar if you see him." Blue warned them before teleporting herself, Red and Psychic Guyvers to the roof of the Phoenix Building. Guyvers 1, 5 and Gigantic Dark appeared a few seconds later.


	17. Attack on Chronos Phoenix

Chapter 17: Attack on Chronos Phoenix 

"We'll have to move fast," Guyver 5 said, "The security systems have detected us."

"She's right," Blue added, "There are 30 zoanoids on their way up to the roof."

"Split up!" Gigantic Dark shouted

The six of them activated their gravity orbs, broke into the two groups as before and flew to different sides of the building.

[The processing tanks are in the basement.] Blue sent to them all as she flew into the building on the same floor as her former lab.

[We'll take those, Blue.] Guyver 1 sent to her.

[OK, we'll destroy the Research Labs.] She replied, leading Red and Psychic down a corridor.

Four Gregole zoanoids blocked the end of the corridor. Red smiled under her armour and said,

"I'll take these."

Four laser blasts came from the orb above her Control medal and punched through the necks of each of the zoanoids. All four collapsed on the floor, and began to dissolve.

"Good shooting, sis." Psychic said to her.

[Watch what you say!] Blue cautioned him [You don't want to give Chronos a clue about your identity. If they know that you have a sister, they would figure her identity out not long after they found out yours. If they found out who you are that is.]

[Sorry.] Psychic replied [I'll be careful.]

"It looks like they haven't repaired much of the damage you caused, Blue." Red reported.

"Good," Blue replied, "It'll make it easier to finish the job."

"What are our targets?" Red asked.

"Red, you go for the labs computer core, Psychic, cover for her."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to destroy any equipment I can."

Blue moved through the labs, destroying computer terminals, furniture and any other equipment she found. She was surprised that no zoanoids appeared to challenge her, or her friends.

[Blue, something's not right!] Guyver 1s telepathic voice said into her mind, [We've only seen about two dozen zoanoids so far. There should be more than this!]

[I've noticed that myself, Guyver 1. I don't know why.]

[Could Chronos have expected us to finish what you began and cleared the building of all important material?] Guyver 3 asked her.

[I don't think so. Besides, with a Zoalord here, I think we would be outclassed.]

[Possibly, Gyou was hard to cripple. The only reason he's dead now is because he angered Archanfel who then killed him.]

_I wonder if I'd be able to destroy Kushtar? _Blue thought, as she destroyed a backup computer core.

[Blue, the core has been destroyed,] Red said into her mind, [What now?]

[Help the others in the basement.] She replied.

[What about you?] Psychic asked.

[I'm gonna move to the Executive Area of the building.]

Blue then teleported herself to the part of the building where the Director of the Phoenix Branch worked. She was not the only person in the area, however, as she sensed almost 100 zoanoids nearby. Within minutes, she was fighting those zoanoids, and winning. She sliced two apart using her sonic swords, blasted another one using the mini gravity orbs that were in her palms, crushing the skulls of any who got close enough and blasting ones who were not within reach of her swords using the head laser.

_This is too easy, _she thought, _why?_

She suddenly got her answer, when a pair of Enzyme II hyper zoanoids appeared.

_This will be more challenging._

She sheathed her sonic swords, knowing that they would be of little help against the corrosive blood of these zoanoids. She quickly teleported herself behind them and fired a pressure cannon at one of them, this time using the orb at her waist for a more powerful blast. The zoanoid lost its left arm in the blast. Blue then found herself jumping and running to avoid the acid spraying from the creatures' mouths. She was able to avoid it at first, but one of the zoanoids fired a spray ahead of her, which she was unable to avoid. The spray hit her legs and for a few seconds she could feel her armour melting. Then, to her surprise, the armour stopped melting.

_What just happened?_ She wondered.

She turned to look at the Enzymes, venting steam from her mouth vents as she did so. She extended the sonic sword in her right wrist and jumped above them. As she landed, behind them, she used the sword to cut the head off of the one who had hit her with the acid. The creature lost its head, as expected, but the sword didn't decay and break, which surprised her. She decided to quickly end this fight and opened one of her mega-smashers; the second Enzyme II didn't get a chance to react as it was vaporised, along with the dissolving remains of the other one.

_Looks like my armour can modify itself._ Sonnet thought, smiling beneath her armour. _This will be a great advantage against Chronos._

[Blue, get out of the building, NOW.]

[What's going on Red?]

[The others are going to vaporise the zoanoid production tanks. The buildings foundations should be damaged along with it.]

[OK,] Blue replied, running towards the nearest zoanoid at the same time. She used the still active sonic sword to slice it in half, as she ran past, and then dived out of the window that was behind it. As the shards of glass fell towards the ground, Guyver Blue activated her main gravity orb and positioned herself above the Phoenix Building, noticing it shake as she looked down at it.

[Are any of you still in the building?] She telepathically asked.

[No, everyone's out.] Psychic Guyver replied.

_Good!_ Blue thought as she opened her mega-smashers and targeted the building. As her cannons began to charge, she sensed four similar energy build-ups.

_The others must have had the same idea._ She thought as she fired the mega-smashers down at the roof of the Phoenix Building. The combined blasts punched through the roof of the Phoenix Building and vaporised it completely, leaving nothing but a smoking hole in the ground.

_The Police and Fire Departments will arrive soon; we need to get out of here._ Blue checked her sensors to see if anyone was still alive within the remains of the building. She couldn't detect any living thing in the ruins.

[Can anyone else tell if anything is still alive in the ruins?] Blue telepathically asked. As she received five negative replies, Blue signalled for them all to split up. Blue found Guyver Red and the Psychic Guyver, and Guyver 5 sent her a message saying that she had taken the others home. As Blue teleported her friends to their apartment, she thought: _Chronos will hate us more than ever now._


	18. Aftermath

Chapter 18: Aftermath 

Guyvers Blue, Psychic and Red appeared in their home at about 19.00. Kyriu was sitting at the computer; he turned around to them as the armours disappeared.

"That was a lot of training." He stated.

"We did a little more than training, Uncle." Ran informed him.

"Really?"

"Yes, Chronos can't rely on its base in Phoenix anymore."

"You've destroyed it?"

"Yes we have, Kyriu," Sonnet replied, "I just hope that Chronos doesn't rebuild it."

"These armours are cool, Sonnet," Mutaru said, "I wish we had been able to get them sooner."

"Don't get cocky my friend," Sonnet cautioned, "They don't make you indestructible, and there are a few things about them that you need to know."

"Like what?" Ran asked, sitting down on the sofa.

"For example, the units draw some of the energy they need from the host. After a while, the host would feel exhausted."

"I feel a little tired now." Ran commented.

"That's because you used the mega smashers," Sonnet informed her, "The amount of energy they draw from a host is high, you probably wouldn't have been able to fire a second blast."

"Agito couldn't," Ran said, "His Gigantic armour shut down as we flew out of the building."

"He must have been too exhausted to keep it active." Sonnet said.

"Are you speaking from experience?" Kyriu asked.

"Partially, I've been a little drained in the past after using the unit, but my power unit recharges me within a few minutes."

"What about us?" Mutaru asked.

"Depends on your physical fitness," Sonnet told him, "The better shape you're in, the longer you'll be able to keep the armour active."

"How do you know this?"

"I read a few of the files on the effects a Guyver has on a human back at Chronos Phoenix."

"How else does it affect them?" Kyriu asked.

"They will now have those organisms on their backs that allow Guyver to telepathically communicate with each other."

"What else?" Mutaru asked.

"There are quite a few things. I memorised the contents of the files when I read them."

"Can you write them down for us?" Ran asked.

Sonnet looked at Kyriu.

"Can I use the computer?"

"Of course."

Kyriu closed down what he was working on and vacated the chair. Sonnet took his place and began typing. After two minutes, she handed Ran and Mutaru a printout detailing how the Guyver affects a human host.

"Shred that as soon as you've read it," She told them, "Don't want the wrong people to find that information."

"OK."

Sonnet looked at the clock.

"I'm going to return to Phoenix. If any Chronos employees are at the building, I'm going to deal with them. You two should rest. After work tomorrow, I'll contact the others and arrange another training session."

"Got to work Saturdays?"

"Unfortunately, I have to work every day. Possibly overtime now that Phoenix has been destroyed."

"See you later then."

Sonnet summoned her armour and teleported herself to the roof of a building across the street from the ruins of the Phoenix Building. Many people were gathered around the remains, even though it was early morning, but Blue couldn't see any Chronos staff. She began scanning the area with her sensor orbs, noting that there were a few fading life signs in the basement of the building, but no one that could threaten her. She activated her gravity orb and flew down to street level, remaining in the shadows as much as possible. She wasn't completely successful, however, as several of the people near the building noticed her. Reacting from this, she flew up, and positioned herself above the remains of the building and observed the crowd at the same time. Suddenly, her sensor orbs warned her of a presence behind her. She turned around, noticing Paul Kushtar hovering there, in his human form.

"So you are the third Guyver." He stated.

"Yes, I'm Guyver Blue," She replied, then feigned ignorance, "Who are you?"

"My name is Paul Kushtar, you and your friends have destroyed my Branch of Chronos. For that I'm going to kill you."

_Sounds a little cliché!_ Blue thought as she activated her sonic swords.

"You can try Kushtar, I've been curious as to how powerful this armour of mine is."

"You don't stand a chance," Kushtar confidently said, "You'll be dead by sunrise."

"We'll see!"

In his human form, Kushtar fired an energy blast from his hand, similar to that of a weak mega-smasher blast. Blue quickly flew and moved herself so that she was behind him. She fired a few shots from her head laser into his back, these beams punched through his Chronos uniform, and the skin beneath. Blue could see these injuries were not serious and, based on what she knew about zoalords, would heal within an hour, at most.

"You're fast."

"I'm a lot stronger than Guyvers 1 and 3 are."

"Yes, I can tell. I was aware that you were stronger than the others, but I don't think you'll be a threat to us for much longer."

_He must be referring to the new model of zoanoid that I'm supposed to start designing soon, _Blue thought, _He, and the other zoalords, will be very surprised when they see it's not a threat to me at all, I'll design it with weaknesses that I can exploit._

Blue then sheathed her swords, opened her hands and fired two pressure cannon gravity balls at him. This attack, although quite weak for a standard Guyver, was 4x more powerful for Blue. Kushtar was heavily injured by the blasts, as one ball blew his right arm off at the shoulder, taking a chunk out of his torso as well, while the second ball punched through a weak shield that he'd been able to generate, and rip through the lower part of the torso. Both injuries caused a large amount of blood to pour out of his body and fall towards the ground. Kushtar was quickly losing consciousness, but he managed to signal another zoalord, on the Ark, to teleport him on board, to safety.

[I'll kill you when I next see you, Guyver Blue.] He telepathically said as he vanished.

_That sounded cliché too, _Blue thought, _I wonder how _Imakarum Mirabilis _will react to his defeat?_

Blue scanned the area again as she vented steam out of her mouth vents, finding nothing of interest, she teleported back to her temporary home in Tokyo.


	19. Starting Her New Job

Chapter 19: Starting Her New Job

As she reappeared in the lounge area of the apartment, Kyriu looked away from the TV, and up at her, watching as she removed her armour. She also took the bands out of her hair, letting it hang free again.

"You've been getting Chronos very pissed off, haven't you?" He said, indicating the TV screen.

Sonnet turned and looked at the TV. It was showing an amateur video recording of her battle with Paul Kushtar in Phoenix, from a Chronos point of view though.

_'As far as we can tell, one of the Guyvers has attacked Chronos Phoenix, destroying the building and injuring one of the leaders of Chronos,' _The reporter was saying, _'However, Chronos will not allow this to continue. According to a Chronos representative, the Guyvers will not be a threat to Chronos for much longer.'_

Kyriu picked up the remote and turned the TV off.

"I wonder how many people believe that?" he said.

"I don't know, I wouldn't mind knowing though," Sonnet stated, she then asked, "Where are Ran and Mutaru?"

"They both went to bed about an hour ago, a little tired from today's activities I think."

Sonnet looked at the computer screen behind Kyriu and made her eyes zoom in on the clock in the corner of the screen. The time was 22:27.

"It's later than I thought it was. Do you mind if I borrow one of your books Mr Kyriu?"

"What for?"

"Something to read. I need to kill the time before I go to work tomorrow, and I don't feel like sleeping."

"Go right ahead. I keep forgetting you don't need to sleep like we humans do."

"Thank you."

"No problem, just put it back before you leave for work. I'm off to bed, goodnight."

"Of course. Goodnight."

Kyriu got up and went into his bedroom. Sonnet went over to the bookshelves next to the computer desk and selected a book that she liked the sound of. She then shut down Kyriu's computer and turned off the lights. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and she went over to the sofa, turned on a lamp next to it and began to read the thick novel she had selected. She finished the book at about 07:50; she then went and replaced it on the shelf. She went into the bathroom and retrieved her business suit from the hook behind the door. Checking it was all right to wear, and that the ID and pass cards were in the pocket she had placed them in; she replaced it on the hook and went to her suitcases. She passed Kyriu, sitting at the table in the kitchen area, on the way there.

"Morning," He greeted her, "Off to work?"

"Soon," She replied, "Can I use one of the showers?"

"Sure, just lock the door. In case they get up early."

"Right."

Sonnet removed a towel from a suitcase and went into the bathroom at the end of the hall, next to Ran and Mutaru's bedrooms. Once inside, she locked the door, set the water running, removed the clothes she had been wearing since they had gone to the Sahara Desert for training and stepped into the hot shower. As she took her shower, she thought,

_I think I'll keep those clothes for any training we do. Since they get damaged if I take a physical injury, I don't want to ruin too many clothes._

After her shower, Sonnet dried herself, and put her suit on before leaving the bathroom. As she went to the door, Sonnet noticed that Ran and Mutaru weren't around.

"Are they still asleep?" She asked Kyriu.

"Yeah, they must have been more tired than they claimed to be." He replied.

"They'll get used to their abilities soon enough," Sonnet told him, as she opened the front door, "See you later."

"Bye."


	20. An Interesting First Day

Chapter 20: An Interesting First Day

As Sonnet left the apartment building and headed to the Chronos Japan building, she wondered:

_Will I be informed of the events in Phoenix yesterday? I was examining the units that were stolen, and I worked in the building that has now been destroyed. Guess I'll wait and see._

Sonnet went to the front door of the Japan building and swiped her ID card through the reader next to the door, she also signed in at the Reception Desk, before going to the lift. The lift soon arrived and she entered. She then retraced her steps to Dr Balcus' office and knocked on the door. She heard the scientist's voice telling her to enter, so she opened the door and stood behind the chair. As the chair swivelled round, she noticed that the large screen behind it displayed what appeared to be a 3D image of Guyver Blue.

"Reporting as ordered, Dr Balcus."

"Good. Are you aware of the Guyver attack yesterday?"

"Yes sir, I saw a news report showing one of them near the former Phoenix building," Sonnet replied, feigning ignorance again, "The news wasn't very informative though; all I could gather was that the Phoenix building had been destroyed by one of the Guyvers."

"There is more to it than that. You were examining two recently discovered Guyver units before you were reassigned, weren't you?"

"Yes, they appeared to be just like the stolen units that Sho Fukamachi and Agito Makashima use. I didn't learn any special details before I left though."

"Yes, I've read the report you wrote on them about a month ago. The Phoenix branch sent me a copy of all your work when you were being considered for the job we offered you. Unfortunately, we won't be learning anything else about them now."

"Were they destroyed along with the building?"

"No, the three Guyvers stole them before you left America. One of them even damaged the lab they were being kept in, before she left."

"She? I thought the Guyvers all had male hosts?"

"No, they don't. The third Guyver is a female one. According to Zoalord Kushtar, the third Guyver calls herself 'Guyver Blue'."

_Maybe I shouldn't have revealed my name to Kushtar._ Sonnet thought, before asking:

"Does this mean that there will soon be five Guyvers instead of just three?"

"There is no soon about it, I'm afraid. There were six Guyvers involved in the attack that destroyed Chronos Phoenix."

"It sounds like a new type of zoanoid is needed quickly."

"Yes, there is a guard waiting outside who will show you to the area you will be working in. Your e-mail and computer files have been transferred here, so you can access any of your material if you should need to. I'll send you a list of requirements that we'd like to see in this new zoanoid, if possible, in about 20 minutes. Until then, get yourself settled in."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Dismissed."

Sonnet nodded her head, and headed to the door. Before she opened it, she turned back to Dr Balcus.

_Let's see if my new position allows me to learn more information._ She thought as she said.

"Something I don't understand, sir."

"What?"

"You said that six Guyvers destroyed Phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Even if they had hosts for the units they had stolen, there should only have been five Guyvers at most."

"Very perceptive. The two you were examining, were part of a group of three that we had found deep in the Amazon Rainforest. The third unit had already been examined and was kept in storage."

"Right, thank you for clearing that up sir."

Balcus simply reacted by turning his chair around to face the large monitor, indicating that Sonnet should leave. She did so, closing the door and informing the guard that she was ready. The guard lead her into a lift and pressed the 32nd floor button. On the way down to that floor, Sonnet remembered what she had seen on Balcus' monitor screen.

_Looks like Kushtar was able to give them a pretty good description of me, _she thought,_ Balcus will be shocked when he learns how powerful my weapons and abilities are compared to Guyvers 1 and 3._

The lift arrived on the 32nd floor and the guard walked out, followed by Sonnet.

_Balcus didn't mention the upgrade unit that was also stolen, I wonder why? Maybe I'm not cleared for information like that. _Sonnet noticed that they were approaching a Research Area; presumably her new workplace was nearby. The escort explained to her that she was to be working in an office, not a lab, in her new job. As she entered her office, she took note of the contents, there was a large wooden desk in the corner of the room, below the window, there was a computer on the desk, the office also had three chairs, an office chair facing the computer, and two wooden chairs on the other side, finally there was a small bookcase in another corner, that went up to her waist, behind the door. All in all, the office was similar to the one that Paul Kushtar had had in Phoenix, just a lot smaller. The guard then handed her an envelope that contained her details to allow her to access the computer network, and her e-mail account. After he had done this, Sonnet thanked him and he then left the room. Sonnet sat down in her chair behind the desk and placed her arms on the armrests, thinking,

_This is good; it's comfortable and well equipped. I presume I won't actually be going into labs much. Unless I get ordered to help grow this zoanoid as well._

Sonnet then turned on her computer and opened the envelope, when she was prompted; she entered the details on the piece of paper and was then connected to the company network. The first thing she did was to check her e-mail, for which she had two new messages. The first, to her surprise, contained a summary of the attack on the Phoenix Building and a short casualty list. The second was from Dr. Balcus, supplying her with a series of passwords that would allow her to access the files on all the previous models, designs and types of zoanoid to date. It also contained the details of features that the Elite would like in the new zoanoid class, as Balcus said he would send her. Sonnet made a copy of all the passwords and stored them within her files; she also made sure that she could recall them from memory if she needed to. Sonnet then glanced around the office, wondering:

_Are there any security cameras in here? There are probably at least two._

To satisfy her curiosity, Sonnet made her eyes able to see infrared signatures and looked around the office. She immediately noticed a small camera in the corner of the room, near to the empty bookcase, a second one above the window and a third, much smaller, camera located next to her computer monitor.

_So Chronos wants to observe me, I wonder if they'll figure out that I know about their cameras and their locations? They must assume that I noticed that there was a camera almost every five metres in the corridors, but they may not suspect that I can see _all_ of the ones in my office._

Curiosity satisfied; Sonnet started reading the list of requirements for the new zoanoid. The list included:

· Enzyme acid,

· Bio lasers,

· High strength levels,

· Durability to the weaponry of the Guyvers.

_A little vague,_ Sonnet thought, _I guess most of this is up to me. That could work against Chronos and in the favour of Ran and the others._

Sonnet turned to the portable drawing board on her desk and began developing possible shapes and attributes for the new zoanoid. Once, during the day, a Chronos trooper came into her office and handed her a key for the door, other than that, Sonnet had nothing to distract her all day. After filling up several pages with ideas, Sonnet consulted the clock on her computer monitor. To her surprise, it was 17.47. Sonnet assumed that it would be OK if she left and went home. She rolled up her ideas and placed them in a small gap between the bookcase and the corner of the room, knowing full well that the cameras would record her activities. Sonnet then left her office, locking it first, and went to the Reception Desk. She signed herself out before leaving the building and then decided to look around the area before going back to the apartment.

_It might be useful later if I know the area as well as possible. If I have to fight here, knowledge of the area layout will be an advantage._

Sonnet wandered around Tokyo for about an hour, observing places to shop for food, clothes and where the cinemas and restaurants were. Sonnet decided that there were plenty of places to spend her spare time, what little she would have, in. As she reached the steps of the apartment building, she suddenly heard:

[Guyver Blue.]

[What's wrong, Guyver 1?]

[I was patrolling around Mount Narisawa, for Chronos activity when two Enzyme IIs jumped me. Guyver 5 is here, but she's badly injured, not used to having to fight. We could use your assistance.]

During the course of this conversation, Sonnet had reached the lift of the building. She entered, checking that there were no security cameras in the lift, which there weren't, before saying.

[I'm on my way.]

Sonnet then summoned her armour and teleported herself to a small lake on Mount Narisawa, using her sensor orbs to locate Guyvers 1 and 5. As her sensor orbs located them, she heard a loud scream in her mind. She knew, from what Agito had once told her, that that was what other Guyvers felt when one of them is killed. Blue wondered for a second who it might be, before activating her gravity orb and flying in their direction, thinking:

_I hope the control medal of the victim is still intact!_


	21. Death of a Friend

Just a reminder:

"Text" = Verbal speech

Text = Thoughts

[Text] = Telepathic communication

Chapter 21: Death of a Friend

Guyver Blue arrived at the location of her two friends to see Gigantic Guyver 1, finish off an Enzyme II with a hyper-smasher blast. As he closed the chest-plates, however, the gigantic armour retracted from him and he reverted back to Guyver 1.

_Damn! _She thought, _Guyver 5 has been 'killed'._

[Guyver 1, get clear of that Enzyme II and grab Guyver 5's control medal. I'll handle the other one.]

[Right.]

Blue prepared a pressure cannon blast to distract the Enzyme II while Guyver 1 retrieved the medal. The discharge blasted a large hole in the stomach of the creature. Blue then activated the sonic swords in her wrists and ran at the zoanoid, before jumping up, flipping over its head and slicing its arms off as she landed behind it.

[Nice!] She heard Sho thinking.

The Enzyme II wasn't completely out of action yet though. It fired a spray of its acid from its mouth, which hit Blue on the chest, damaging her right mega-smasher cannon.

[Guyver 1, do you have enough strength for a mega-smasher beam?] She asked.

[I think so, only one side though.]

[That'll be enough, begin charging on my signal.]

[Ready when you are.]

Blue then ran at the Enzyme II. As she got close, she put her hands on what remained of its shoulders and pulled herself up. This gave her momentum, which allowed her to jump off its shoulders, flip backwards, and get some distance between the creature and her.

[Guyver 1, now!]

Blue sensed the energy build-up as she landed in a crouch, at approximately the same distance away from the zoanoid as Guyver 1 was and at an approximate angle of 62 degrees to his left. She opened her left cannon as she stood upright, and fired it as she saw Guyver 1 fire his. The power behind the blast, from two different angles, was more than the zoanoid could withstand and it was vaporised.

"Thanks, Guyver Blue," Guyver 1 said, venting steam from his mouth vents, "That was close."

Blue also vented steam before turning to face him.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm OK, but Guyver 5 will need to be regenerated from her control medal," Guyver 1 replied, holding out the circular device, "Damn it! I should have let her use the gigantic armour. She would have been able to protect herself better."

"Are you sure about that?" Blue asked.

Guyver 1 turned to face her, control medal glowing.

"What do you mean?" He demanded.

"She wasn't very familiar with her armour to begin with. If she had used the upgrade, she might have lasted a little longer, but she may have still been beaten by the Enzymes."

Guyver 1 thought about this for a minute.

"I suppose that's true."

"I don't know her that well, but I don't think she'd blame you for her 'death'. Believe me, Guyver 1; you don't want to let this get to you. If you do, it'll keep coming back to you at random times, which could prove fatal if it happened in a fight."

"Something similar has happened before." Guyver 1 said.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you aware of what happened to my father?"

"Only that Chronos turned him into the prototype Enzyme II and your armour, on automatic, killed him in self defence."

"Right. The problem was that my mind blanked out those events, and I lost the ability to summon my armour. I could never figure out why my armour wouldn't respond until Aptom told me the truth."

"At which point you regained your ability to bio-boost?"

"Yes. Aptom was threatening to kill Mizuki, and I somehow regained control."

"Interesting. You see my point though?"

"Yes."

"I suggest you discuss it with Guyver 5 after she has regenerated. It might help."

"I'll do that. Thanks Blue."

The two of them stood there quietly for a minute while Guyver 1's armour healed him of the few injuries he had sustained in the fight.

"Will you be able to keep an eye on the medal, while she does regenerate?" Blue asked.

"Not easily, Agito is starting to think that Chronos knows about our home. We need to clear out soon and go elsewhere."

"Do you want me to take care of her, while she regenerates?"

"Are you sure?"

"I can keep it on the sofa at Guyver Red's apartment. I'm sure none of them will mind."

"OK. I'll leave her to you."

Guyver 1 handed the medal over to Blue. Blue took it and then said:

"I'll keep you posted on her status."

"Thank you, Blue. I owe you then."

"For what?"

"You saved my life a few minutes ago, then you pointed out what Guyver 5 will probably tell me later on, and now you're taking care of my girlfriend while she heals."

"I guess that's three so far." Blue replied, "Don't worry though, you can pay me back on the battlefield in the future."

Sho smiled under his armour, before deactivating it.

"Thanks, Blue. I'll see you soon."

"No problem. Bye."

Blue watched Sho walk away. She scanned the nearby area to check that he wasn't going to be attacked again, before teleporting herself to the hallway outside her temporary home. She deactivated her armour before walking into the apartment. As she entered, she noticed both Ran and Mutaru sitting on the sofa. They both looked very shaken.

"What happened, Sonnet?" Mutaru asked.

"Did you hear a scream in your mind?"

Ran nodded.

"That's what you hear when a Guyver has his or her control medal removed from their forehead."

"So one of your number has died?" Kyriu asked, walking in.

Sonnet smiled briefly before answering:

"Yes, and no. The body was destroyed, but as long as the control medal survives, it will regenerate the host over time."

"Who died?" Kyriu asked.

"Guyver 5," Was Sonnet's reply, "But don't worry. I have her medal here."

Sonnet then inspected the removed medal. There was a ring of blood around the base of it, but aside from that, it was in perfect condition.

_Good thing the blood has dried,_ Sonnet thought,_ it would make a mess of the sofa if it hadn't. Not to mention my suit._

Sonnet then placed the medal on the coffee table while she took off her jacket and rolled up her shirtsleeves.

"I offered to take care of her while she regenerates, since Sho and the others are having a few problems."

"Anything we can help with?" Ran asked.

Ran and her brother looked calmer now.

"Not at present, just monitor Mizuki and keep Sho up-to-date on her progress."

"That's not much." Mutaru commented.

"No, it isn't," Sonnet replied, "Would one of you watch the medal while I take a shower?"

Ran nodded, indicating that she would. Sonnet then left the family, went into the bathroom and, after grabbing a towel from the cupboard, removed her clothes and stepped into the shower. While she was showering, she thought about someone that she had tracked down, and spoken to, a few weeks ago.

_I wonder if Sho is aware that Aptom is still alive?_ _Not to mention a Chronos fugitive. Maybe I should try to find him again. He would be a great ally if he joined us, instead of working independent, like he's currently doing._


	22. Recovery and Revenge

Chapter 22: Recovery and Revenge

Sonnet left the shower and wrapped the towel around her body. She went into Ran's bedroom and retrieved some clothes from one of her suitcases that she could wear for the rest of the day. While Sonnet had been working that day, Ran had managed to move Sonnet's things to her bedroom to save Sonnet from having to move too far to get anything she needed. Sonnet found this helpful, since Ran's room was next to the bathroom. Once she had got herself dressed, she returned to the bathroom to collect the suit and shirt she had been wearing earlier in the day. Once she was done, she headed to the lounge area of the apartment. She noticed Mutaru sitting on the sofa, with a blanket next to him, reading a magazine, Ran and her uncle were nowhere in sight.

"Where are they?" Sonnet asked.

Mutaru looked up.

"Ran and Uncle are out. I think they are visiting a mutual friend of ours."

"Bird?"

Mutaru nodded.

_RX-606,_ Sonnet thought, _I've not seen him for quite a while._

"I'll have to try and visit him, now that I'm living in Japan."

"We haven't seen him for several months. I think he was trying to stay low-key, so Chronos or Taron couldn't get to him. He called while you were in the shower and asked Ran if she and Uncle could meet him. I wasn't told the location."

"Has he asked about me much?"

"A few times. We haven't told him, yet, that you are now living in Japan. Ran and I agreed you would want to tell him yourself, and we forced Uncle into agreeing to the same."

Sonnet smiled.

"Thanks. I'll definitely have to visit him someday."

"Why not telepathically contact Ran and ask her to show you were they are?"

"So I could then teleport myself there?"

"Right."

"No, not this time. I have something I want to work on. How's Mizuki?"

"She's regenerating pretty fast. At this rate, she'll be fully restored by midnight, I think."

"Where is she?"

Mutaru got up and removed the blanket that was next to him. Under it was the head and shoulders of Guyver 5, as well as some of her upper torso.

"That was after 21 minutes?"

"Yes."

_These armours are very impressive. _She thought.

"Have you informed Guyver 1?" She asked Mutaru.

"Yes, briefly."

"They were occupied?"

"It seemed like it. I couldn't really tell. Sho just seemed a little rushed, like he was running somewhere."

"Sho did mention to me that Chronos might know where they were living. I presume they are relocating."

Mutaru was quiet for a minute after that.

"Do you think your uncle would mind if I used the computer?" She asked.

"I doubt it." Mutaru replied, and went back to reading his magazine.

Sonnet sat down at the chair and turned to face the computer. As she waited for the computer to boot up, she had an idea. Turning around to Mutaru she cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up at her.

"How would you like to get a little revenge on Chronos for Guyver 5s 'death'?"

Mutaru frowned. Sonnet then smiled as she outlined a plan that would irritate Chronos, and help throw them off discovering who Guyver Blue was, for a time at least.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I'd like to thank Refugee, author of _A Knight of Spira_ and its sequel _Genesis_, for his suggestion for this chapter title. I couldn't think of anything suitable, and I thought his suggestion summarised the events of the chapter nicely.


	23. Complete Restoration

Chapter 23: Complete Restoration

"Are you serious?" Mutaru asked.

"Yes," was Sonnet's reply, "What do you think?"

"I think it's crazy, to tell you the truth. But, if we do this correctly, it should lead Chronos to the wrong conclusion about you."

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if they suspect I'm already involved with the Guyvers somehow. If this works, they will believe that for sure, but they won't believe that I am Guyver Blue."

"What about Mizuki?" Mutaru asked.

"We wait until she has fully regenerated, and for your sister to return home, then I'll tell them the plan I just told you. Based on her progress so far, she should be fully regenerated within the next couple of hours. Midnight, at the latest"

"Didn't you say that the Guyver, in self defence mode, can't distinguish between friend and foe?"

"It was one of the things I listed on that printout I gave to you and your sister."

"So what do we do?"

"You don't do anything. When she has fully regenerated, you will go to the other end of the room, and let me wake her up."

"Since the armours only go into self defence mode if the host is unconscious."

"Well remembered. So I should be able to hold her back without activating my armour. And you three should be safe, because you won't be acting in a threatening way to her, so she'll leave you alone."

"I see what you're getting at."

"You'll do as I say for this?"

"Yep. I trust you judgement in this situation, since you've been a Guyver longer than myself and Ran."

"Thanks."

Sonnet then took her hairpin from the computer desk, and slid it into her hair. She held her hand over it for a second before turning to face Mutaru again.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if the hidden feature of this thing still worked. I've not needed to use it since I left Taron."

"What feature?"

"You don't remember what I used to look like when I was telekinetically holding that truck in place, trying to prevent you from escaping from the Taron complex at the base of Mount Fuji?"

Mutaru's face had a blank expression, so Sonnet tried the hidden feature built into her hairpin. It still worked, and two large blue lenses folded out from the pin and covered most of her face, including her eyes.

"Oh, that," He exclaimed, "I remember now."

"I never saw the point in these lenses anyway," Sonnet commented, "Even if someone couldn't see my whole face, they would still remember my voice."

"Only if they knew you pretty well." Mutaru pointed out.

Before Sonnet could reply to that, Ran and Kyriu entered the apartment. Sonnet then retracted the lenses back into her hairpin.

[I saw that.] Ran telepathically said.

[So?] Was Sonnet's reply.

Ran just shrugged her shoulders and moved to sit on the sofa.

"Don't sit there!" Mutaru exclaimed.

"Why?"

Mutaru pulled back the blanket covering Guyver 5. Ran looked a little sheepish as she moved to one of the chairs. Sonnet noticed that Guyver 5s shoulders and upper arms had now regenerated as well.

_Not too long now._ She thought. She then looked up at Ran, remembering something that Agito had once mentioned to her about hosts after they regenerate.

"Ran, can I talk to you for a minute, alone?"

"Sure Sonnet."

The two young women went to Ran's bedroom.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to thank you for moving my cases into your room. It makes it easier to retrieve things after a shower now."

"Not a problem. What else do you want to ask me?"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Only to me," Ran replied tapping the side of her head, "Strong telepath, remember."

"Right. Plus the armour increases those abilities," Sonnet replied, "Anyway, the other thing I wanted to ask you wasn't for me. It's for Mizuki."

"What?"

"One thing I forgot to mention about Guyver armour is that, although it can recreate a host down to the cellular level, it can't do much about clothes."

Ran twitched slightly as Sonnet said that.

"So," Sonnet continued, "Do you have some clothes that you could lend Mizuki, until she gets back to Sho and the others? The two of you appear to be similar sizes, so any of your clothes should fit her quite well."

"I think so. I'll check now. Oh, by the way, Uncle said he had some information for you."

"Thanks."

Sonnet then left Ran's bedroom and returned to the lounge area.

"Mr Kyriu, Ran said you had some information for me?"

"Yes," Kyriu replied, "As Mutaru probably told you, we went to visit Bird."

Sonnet nodded.

"He was asking about you," Kyriu continued, "Wondering if you would be visiting Japan anytime son."

"I certainly will," Sonnet replied, "Where is he right now?"

Kyriu passed a piece of paper to Sonnet. Sonnet took a look at it, memorised the address, and then tore it up and disposed of it.

"Also, we passed the Landlady as we came back up, and she had a message for you. She said, 'All you need to do is fill out some forms, and then you can move in.'"

"Excellent. Is it possible to do so now?"

"I suspect so."

"I'm going downstairs then. See you later."

Sonnet left the apartment and headed to the reception area. She then spoke with the Landlady and filled out the necessary forms. The Landlady then handed her two keys, which Sonnet took. She then thanked the woman, and returned to Ran's apartment. When she went back inside, she gave Kyriu one of the keys, in case it was needed, and then decided to move into her own new home immediately. With Ran and Mutaru helping, she moved her cases to her own apartment at the other end of the building. Once there, Mutaru left them to unpack. Sonnet had a little trouble deciding where to put a few of her things, but Ran's suggestions solved those problems. Since the apartment was already furnished, part of the reason for the delay, Sonnet didn't have to worry about buying a sofa and chairs for the lounge area, or a dining table and chairs for the kitchen, or a wardrobe for her clothes. Only one of the two bedrooms was furnished though. The larger bedroom had a double bed, two chests of drawers, a small cabinet on the left hand side of the bed, which was the same height as the bed, and there was a lamp on the cabinet as well.

"That didn't take long." Ran commented.

"No. I'm surprised we got it done so fast."

"I wonder what the time is?"

"At least 21:30," Sonnet guessed, "Do you mind if I stay at your apartment again tonight?"

"No," Ran answered, "But why?"

"Mizuki." Sonnet replied.

Ran and Sonnet then left Sonnet's apartment and returned to Ran's. Mutaru informed them, after they had been back for a few minutes, that Mizuki had regenerated to just below her knees. The four of them then sat around and discussed, among other things, Sonnet's revenge plan. At around 22:30, Ran, Mutaru and Kyriu went to bed. Sonnet stayed up and read through another one of Kyriu's books. It was just after midnight when Sonnet noticed the Guyver 5 had fully regenerated.

_Good thing Ran and the others are asleep,_ She thought, _they won't be a concern now._

Sonnet then spoke to her via the Guyver organisms.

[Guyver 5, can you hear me?]

There was no response, so Sonnet increased the power behind her telepathic message.

[Guyver 5, can you hear me?]

This time, the control medal started flashing. A couple of minutes later:

[Yes. I can hear you. What happened to me? How did I get here?]

"This is Ran's apartment. I offered to take care of you after the battle you and Guyver 1 had with those Enzyme IIs. Sho mentioned that you might be moving house, which made it tough for him to monitor you as you regenerated."

"We'll probably go to one of the bases that Agito set up for Zeus Thunderbolt. What time is it?"

"It's just after midnight."

"Do you think Ran would mind if I slept on this sofa for a few hours?"

"I don't think so."

"I'm going to deactivate my armour too."

"Wait!" Sonnet exclaimed.

"What?"

"There are clothes for you on that chair there."

"Oh right," she said, sounding sheepish, "I forgot the armours can't recreate clothes."

Sonnet returned to reading her book, while Mizuki shut down her armour, and got dressed in the clothes Ran had provided. Once Mizuki indicated she had got dressed, Sonnet informed her about the plan she had come up with as a form of revenge. Mizuki asked a few questions, but seemed to like the overall idea. After that, Mizuki lay down on the sofa, covered by the blanket Mutaru had placed over her as she was regenerating, as Guyver 5, and went to sleep a few minutes later.


	24. Development

Chapter 24: Development

Sonnet finished the book just after Mizuki went to sleep. For the rest of the night, she ran through some of the details of her revenge plan, as well as the design she had in mind for the new Chronos hyper-zoanoid. At 08:30, she woke Mizuki up and informed her that she would be leaving for work soon. She also told Mizuki that she could make use of her apartment, if Ran didn't let her stay there, until she heard from Sho or Agito.

"Do you think your plan will be possible today?" Mizuki asked.

"No," Sonnet replied, "Wait three days, I think it'll be possible by then."

"OK. What do you plan on doing today?"

"Finishing the design and specifications for the new zoanoid I've been employed to design, and then show Balcus. After that, I suspect I'll have some role in its development."

Sonnet then left a note for Ran, to inform her of what was going on, and then she left the apartment and returned to her own. She grabbed a towel from her airing cupboard, removed the clothes she had been wearing during the night and took a quick shower, before putting her work suit on, and heading for the Chronos Japan building.

When she arrived at the building she signed in, like the day before, and used the lift to reach her office. When she arrived at her office, she sat down at her desk and logged into her computer account to check her email. While the computer processed her login details, she adjusted her eyes to allow her to see infrared and looked around the office. The three cameras were still there and, as far as she could see, there were no recent heat traces in the room, she turned her eyes back to normal, and looked at her computer screen. She only had an email from Dr Balcus, informing her that time was of the essence. After reading that, Sonnet retrieved her design sketches, and continued from where she had left off the day before.

Around 12:30, she left her office and headed down to the canteen in the building. She might have been unable to eat, but she felt like a brief change of scenery. She sat in the canteen for about an hour, facing a window, watching other Chronos employees buy meals and drinks. Anyone who notices her would have simply seen a young woman staring out of a window. After approximately 57 minutes, she returned to her office, and started drawing her final design. Two hours later, she had finished the final sketch. Two and a-half hours after that, she had a computer model developed as well. She contacted Balcus to inform him of her progress, and was ordered to come to his office immediately.

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AN: Sorry this is so short. It's only intended as a brief fill in, before Sonnet's zoanoid design enters production.

Also, for those of you who are unclear, an airing cupboard is the same thing as a linen closet.


	25. Design Presentation & Socialising

Chapter 25: Design Presentation & Socialising

Sonnet transferred the file of the computer model to a disk and left her office. She took the route in reverse that she had travelled from Balcus' office to her own and arrived outside his office door within a matter of minutes. She announced herself to the guards outside, who allowed her to enter. Once inside, she moved to the front of the room and positioned herself in front of Balcus' large chair. Looking around, she noticed a computer with a drive for her disk. She held up the disk and said:

"May I?" while indicating the computer.

When Balcus nodded, she slid the disk into the computer and loaded up her file. The 3D model she had made appeared on Balcus' monitor. The design contained the head of a Gregole, the shoulders of a Vamore, with what appeared to be smaller Vamore pods on the arms, and the rest of the body appeared to be a mix of Xector and Ramotith. She began explaining the details to Dr Balcus:

"As you can see, the new zoanoid is a bit of a hybrid of previous designs, but there are a few changes. This design has the shoulder pods of a Vamore zoanoid but, instead of bio-lasers, the pods discharge Enzyme acid, and there are similar pods in the forearms. The shoulder pods will contain the Anti-Guyver acid that an Enzyme utilises, and the forearms will contain a new acid that I believe the Chemists have recently developed, one that will harden human skin and muscle resulting in complete deterioration within 60 hours."

Balcus interrupted at that point:

"What's the purpose of that?"

Sonnet smiled, as in reality, this acid had been "developed" by Chronos scientists that were actually part of Agito's Zeus Thunderbolt, and it would only leave a minor burn on the victim:

"Because we will have a "cure" for it, which will get us some more "volunteers" for troop processing."

His face didn't change, but he indicated for her to continue, which she did:

"The head is similar to that of Gregole, but has more strength in the mouth, so its bite is stronger. The basic strength of the zoanoid is 30 people. The skin and armour of the zoanoid is taken from the Xector model. Unfortunately, the design limits the number of bio-lasers. Unlike Xector, the maximum is two: one in each palm. Due to the lower body being a Ramotith, the speed of this zoanoid is, in theory, twice the speed of a Derzerb, and the agility is equal to that of a Derzerb."

"It looks impressive, Miss Baji. And you are well informed about that acid, as it's only just been made available company-wide."

"Thank you sir. However, I must repeat that this is all theoretical. Unlike the true scientists, I don't know if the zoanoid fluids can be altered to generate a hybrid like this. In fact, the only case I know of such a hybrid was the one-off model called Ap…"

"_Do not say that name in my presence!"_ Balcus shouted.

Smirking inwardly, she feigned guilt, and apologised.

Balcus immediately seemed to calm down.

"Leave the details with me, and I'll inform you of my decision. Dismissed."

Sonnet bowed, and then left the room. When she returned to her office, she realised that it was close to 18:00. She decided to call it a day, and left. As before, she locked her office door, went to the reception area and signed herself out. As she walked towards her apartment, she wondered:

_I wonder if Balcus will realise I didn't add any kind of mental defence to that design? If not, Ran will have no problems in dealing with it, which will really piss off Chronos._

Sonnet entered her apartment building, and returned to her apartment. When she walked in, she was surprised to see Mizuki asleep on the sofa. Not wanting to disturb her, Sonnet went into the kitchen area. She suddenly realised that she had no food of any kind in the apartment, which would be a problem if Mizuki was hungry when she woke up. Sonnet moved from the kitchen to the main bedroom and changed her clothes into something more casual: a pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, white socks and pale blue trainers. She picked up the skirt and jacket of her suit and hung it up. The blouse was thrown onto the bed.

When she entered the lounge area, heading for the front door, Mizuki stirred and woke up.

"Sonnet, where are you going?"

"There is nothing to eat here, and I thought you might be hungry. I was going to buy some food and a few other essentials. Want to come along?"

Mizuki looked at the clothes she was wearing, basically a white blouse and a blue knee length skirt, along with navy blue slip-on pumps, that Ran had loaned her, to make sure she looked presentable.

"Sure, why not."

"Great. I can get to know you a little better."

"One thing first, do you have something I can tie my hair back with?"

Mizuki's hair was quite a bit longer than it had been when she first became aware of Chronos and the Guyvers. Instead of being just above her shoulders, it was now hanging down her back, and ended below her shoulder blades.

"Afraid of being recognised?" Sonnet asked.

"Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if Chronos has me on a 'Most Wanted' list. That's part of the reason I let my hair grow, to change my appearance a little."

"I don't actually have anything spare. Hold on."

Sonnet reached to the back of her head and pulled the bands she had used from her braid, allowing her hair to hang freely behind her. Sonnet's long silvery hair ended below her waist, much longer than Mizuki's.

"Shouldn't you be the one wearing these?" Mizuki asked, as she took the bands from Sonnet's hand.

"Nah. I don't like tying my hair back. I prefer leaving it free. I only tie it back when I need to look smart."

Mizuki quickly placed the bands into her hair and then nodded to Sonnet.

"OK. I'm ready now."

The two women left the apartment and headed for the town centre. During the walk Mizuki held out a key to Sonnet.

"Here. It's your spare apartment key. I borrowed it from Ran."

"Thanks." Sonnet replied, taking the key and putting it in a pocket in her jeans.

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"No."

"How come your apartment is so bare? There is nothing on the walls, or anywhere, to indicate that someone lives there."

Sonnet had no immediate answer.

"I'm sorry," Mizuki said, "I've offended you."

"No, you haven't," Sonnet said, "To be honest, I've never really thought about buying pictures and things like that."

"I'm surprised. Don't you have any interests?"

"Other than reading Kyriu's book collection. No, not really."

_I'm gonna have to do something about that._ Mizuki thought.

Sonnet and Mizuki arrived at the town centre. There were plenty of shops still open. Sonnet immediately went to a cash machine and took some cash out of her account. She offered some of the withdrawn yen to Mizuki.

"I can't take that." She said to Sonnet.

"Why not?"

"I don't think I can pay you back. Not for a while at least."

"That's not a problem. I rarely spend any of my wages; I've no reason to. I have plenty of money, so don't worry about having to pay me back."

"You're sure?"

Sonnet nodded, and held out the yen notes again. This time Mizuki took them.

"Thank you."

"Maybe you should by yourself some more clothes. You can't keep wearing those."

"Good idea, Sonnet. Should we split up and meet back here in, say, half an hour?"

"Fine with me. I'll see you then."

The two women then headed into different shops.

Remember you can talk to me this way as well, if you need to. Sonnet telepathically sent to Mizuki.

Understood. Was the reply.

Sonnet went to a key cutting shop, and asked the man there to copy her spare apartment key. She then went into a supermarket, and picked up a variety of foods, including ramen, rice packets and a couple of instant curries. She also bought some washing powder and cleaning equipment, for washing her clothes and keeping her apartment clean. After paying for the items, she went back to the key cutter, who handed her a copy of her key, as well as her original. She thanked and paid the man, and then went to meet Mizuki.

When she arrived at the point they had split up, Sonnet saw no sign of Mizuki.

Guyver 5, are you OK?

Yes, I'm fine. I'm stuck in a queue in a clothes shop.

Sonnet smiled before replying, OK, I'll see you in a few minutes.

Right.

Sonnet then cut the link. She spotted a small café nearby and went to sit down. She sat down at a table where she could see the meeting area, and ordered two glasses of water. Mizuki showed up about ten minutes later, carrying at least six bags. She sat down in the seat opposite Sonnet.

"Busy shops?" Sonnet queried.

"Yeah, crazy," Mizuki replied. She then noticed the water, "I thought you couldn't drink anything?"

"Not quite. I can't eat anything, since I don't actually have a stomach. But I can drink fluids." Sonnet answered, sliding a glass across to Mizuki.

"Thanks," Mizuki said, picking up the glass and taking a large swig, "If you don't mind my asking, how is it possible for you to drink, but not eat?"

"I'd rather not answer here," Sonnet replied, "Too public."

Mizuki looked around the café.

"I see. I'll ask you back at the apartment."

Sonnet nodded.

"Speaking of which," Mizuki continued, "Am I OK to stay there for now, until Sho contacts me?"

"Of course. Is he having problems?"

"I think they are trying to set up a new place to use as a base of operations and somewhere to live. Until then, he thinks it would be a good idea for me to stay with you."

"Why's that?"

"Among other things, I can be a link between the two groups of us Guyvers."

Mizuki said the word 'Guyvers' telepathically, so that other customers in the café wouldn't hear her.

"OK, fine with me." Sonnet said, putting her hand into a pocket in her jeans and then holding that hand out to Mizuki. Mizuki took the key copy that Sonnet handed to her.

"That's your key to the place. You can use it anytime."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

The two of them finished their water and left the café, heading back to the apartment. When they returned, Sonnet let Mizuki use her new key, to check that it worked, before entering the apartment and locking the door behind her using her key. Mizuki then removed the bands from her hair and placed them on the counter in the kitchen. The two of them then unpacked the food and other items that Sonnet had bought, before unpacking the small selection of clothes that Mizuki had bought for herself. Among the clothes were a few shirts, undergarments, nightwear, a couple of skirts and a pair of jeans. Mizuki had also bought herself a few hair bands to save her from borrowing Sonnet's in the future.

"Hey, Sonnet?"

"Yes?"

"Mind if I use the bathroom?"

"Go right ahead."

"Thanks."

"Mizuki."

"Yes?"

"Don't bother to ask in the future, while you are staying here at least. You're my roommate for the time being, so treat the place as you would your own home."

Mizuki considered this for a minute then she smiled.

"Thank you."

Sonnet nodded in response to this, and then turned and went into the main bedroom and picked up her blouse from the bed. She took that into the kitchen, and put it into the washing machine. She then went into the lounge area of the apartment. She sat down on the sofa, and wondered what Balcus would decide to do about her design. While she was wondering, she heard water running, and presumed Mizuki was having a shower. About 30 minutes later, Mizuki walked into the lounge area wearing a pair of red pyjamas and sat down in one of the chairs.

"How are you feeling?" Sonnet asked her.

"Pretty good, albeit a bit tired."

"I don't know what it's like to 'die' as a Guyver. I've never been 'killed' so I can't really tell you anything about it. But my guess is, you're tired because you didn't actually sleep while you were regenerating. Your body was in a kind of stasis, which isn't the same."

"You're probably right. By the way, when I spoke to Sho earlier, he asked me to relay a message to you."

"What's that?"

"'We may require your assistance again soon. I hope you'll help.'"

"That's all?"

"Yes. Sounds like he has something planned."

"Or Agito."

"Mind if I ask you again? About why you can drink, but not eat?"

"Sure. I'll try to..."

"What?"

Sonnet's eyes suddenly started glowing blue.

"Get to the roof, and bio-boost." Sonnet told Mizuki.

"What?"

"Just do it. You'll understand."

Sonnet sent a mental image of the roof of the apartment building to Mizuki, who then nodded and teleported herself out of the room. Sonnet's eyes then returned to their regular blue colour. A few seconds later, someone knocked on her apartment door. Sonnet went to the door, and opened it. Outside was a man dressed in a black suit, holding an envelope. He held the envelope out to Sonnet, who took it and then closed the door.

Guyver 5, don't kill that zoanoid. Sonnet ordered.

Why not?

It might get them suspicious about the building's residents.

All right.

Sonnet waited a few minutes, until the man was away from the building, before sending.

OK. All clear.

A minute or two later, Guyver 5 reappeared in the lounge area. The armour then disappeared and Mizuki sat down in the chair she was using a few minutes ago.

"What was that about?" Mizuki asked Sonnet.

"Someone from Chronos wanted to give me something," Sonnet replied, holding up the envelope, "I wonder what it is?"

Sonnet then opened the envelope. Inside it was a message from Dr Balcus. It read:

'_Miss Baji,_

_After considering your design, and the features it has, I have decided to allow two prototypes to be developed. Your input will be required at a later stage._

_Dr Balcus.'_


	26. Evening Discussion

Chapter 26: Evening Discussion

"Well, that's interesting." Mizuki said.

"Definitely. My plan should be possible now."

"That's true," Mizuki admitted, "I was actually thinking about your ability to sense zoanoids, even without your armour. Have you always been able to do that?"

"Yes. It's part of my ESP, I think. I've always been able to sense nearby ESP power, but the armour appears to allow that ability to be used for zoanoids too."

"Useful. Now, would you explain the deal with you being able to drink, but not eat, please?"

"Right, I forgot."

Sonnet got up from her chair, and placed the note on the small coffee table in the corner of her lounge area. She then returned to her chair.

"I'm not completely sure how this works, but less than 40% of my body is organic. The bulk of my internal organs have either been replaced with machines or, in a couple of incidents, 'upgraded' using technology. My brain, for example, is still primarily organic, but Dr Melicus implanted high-tech mechanical elements to it to enhance my brain functions."

"That sounds painful."

"At least the Taron scientists had the decency to keep me sedated while they did these operations."

"Not much of a consolation."

"No, I suppose not," Sonnet stated, "Anyway, my stomach was one of the organs that was removed. In its place is a sophisticated device that can carry out some of the functions that a stomach would. It can process fluids and some solid substances, but nothing that could constitute a meal. Ramen, for example, I couldn't eat that. Also, my skeleton was 'upgraded' as well. I still have organic bones in my body, but inside the bones are small implants that either heal injuries, or, in my arms and legs, increase my physical strength."

"Interesting. I'm sorry if this dragged up some painful memories for you."

"Not too bad, considering some of the things I did under Taron."

"How strong are you, without the armour?"

"I can take on a Gregole single-handedly, and defeat it. On one occasion I punched someone on the side of the head, and it knocked it off his neck."

"Ouch."

"I was working for Taron at the time. The person who I did that to was part of a gang of motorcyclists who, I think, kidnapped me and planned to exchange me for one million yen, I wouldn't be surprised if they had planned to rape me as well."

"What did you do?"

"The gang leader put me behind him on his motorbike, and told me to 'Hold on tight'. So I did, he was shocked for about three seconds before his ribcage was crushed. After that, I took out the others. The last one tried to get away, and must have accelerated to about 200kph, I wonder what he was thinking when he saw me gaining on him in his wing mirror?"

"Probably something like 'This can't be happening'." Mizuki said.

"Maybe."

"OK. Thanks for telling me those things."

Sonnet smiled at her roommate, before going to the kitchen and getting herself a glass of water.

"Are you hungry?" She called to Mizuki.

Sonnet heard footsteps, so wasn't surprised to see Mizuki enter the kitchen.

"Now that you mention it. I am a little hungry. What did you buy while we were out?"

Sonnet showed Mizuki what food she had. Mizuki then picked out something she could eat, and started cooking it.

"Mind if I ask you another question Sonnet?"

"No, go ahead." Sonnet replied.

"How did you become friends with Ran and Mutaru?"

"That could turn into a long story. Maybe you should ask Ran the same question, get her view as well."

Sonnet then gave Mizuki a short summary of the events that brought Ran and Mutaru into her life.

"I'm glad I met them, really," Sonnet stated, "I think I'd still be working for Taron now, if I hadn't."

Mizuki was quiet for a few minutes while she cooked her meal, a small supper. Sonnet observed her closely.

"Why are you watching me?" Mizuki asked.

"I'm watching how you cook. I'd like to be able to, even though I can't eat for myself." Sonnet replied.

"You need to be a bit more practical really. You can't learn how to cook simply by watching someone else."

"Oh, right."

"How about you try to cook something tomorrow, and I'll help you."

Sonnet smiled when she heard that suggestion.

"I'd like that. It would be educational for me."

Mizuki smirked.

"What?" Sonnet asked, noticing the smirk.

"You sounded a little like a machine, when you said that."

"Guess it slips through sometimes."

Mizuki finished cooking her supper and took it into the lounge area. Sonnet went into the larger bedroom and spent a few minutes putting sheets on the bed, before joining Mizuki in the lounge. Mizuki appeared to be deep in thought as she ate her supper.

Sonnet sat down in the chair she had been using earlier and waited for her friend, watching her eyes. After a few minutes, Mizuki's eyes focused again and she turned to Sonnet.

"Sorry, I was having a conversation with Sho."

"Did he mention anything more about what he might need my help with?"

"Nope. He was filling me in on what happened in that clearing after I 'died'."

"Oh."

"He's right too. What you said to him was more or less what I would have said to him anyway."

"I'm pretty good at reading people and guessing how they think. I used that when talking to Sho back then."

Mizuki finished off the last of her meal before saying.

"Sounds like a handy talent."

"It is. By the way, I'm going to be irritating Chronos a little tonight."

"Guyver Blue?"

"No, actually. Wait here a minute."

Sonnet got up and went to one of the wardrobes in the smaller bedroom. She took out a two-piece blue and silver bodysuit, and a pair of white, high-heeled boots. She changed out of her casual clothes into the bodysuit, put the boots on, and placed her hairpin into her hair, and then she went into the lounge. Mizuki glanced at her, as she left the kitchen, and then stared at her. Sonnet grinned and placed her hands on her hips.

"Looks different, doesn't it?"

"That fits you rather well." Mizuki commented, noticing it was skin-tight. The suit practically stuck to Sonnet's skin, and easily revealed her slim figure.

"This is what I used to wear when I went into a fight as a Taron agent. I also used to wear these lenses over my eyes and face," Sonnet activated them, and they folded out from the hairpin, "So I was tough to identify."

"And there are gloves as well, so you won't leave fingerprints anywhere." Mizuki observed.

"Right. Even if Chronos sees an image of me, they shouldn't be able to tell who I am."

Mizuki then yawned.

"Tired?" Sonnet asked.

"Yeah. Do you mind if I use this sofa?"

"No need for that. I've made up one of the beds, you can use that."

"Thank you."

Mizuki got up and walked into the bedroom, shut the door and, presumably, got into the bed and went to sleep. Sonnet, as usual, stayed up, since she didn't need to sleep. About 30 minutes after Mizuki had gone to bed, Sonnet checked the front door was locked. Once that was done, she teleported herself out of her apartment, and onto the rooftop of the Chronos Japan building. She then began moving around the city, looking for zoanoids who were itching for a fight.

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Author's Notes: I'm not actually sure about what Taron did to Sonnet when they made her into a cyborg. What I've written here is my interpretation of what they did to her.

The part about her not having a stomach is based on the fact that you never see her eating in the anime, and the few times she is offered food, she politely turns it down. Also, what I wrote about her past/childhood in chapter 3 is what I interpreted from the images shown in the opening credits to the anime.

If anyone has other opinions on Sonnet's past and/or her body condition, based on her cyborg components, please email me at (or review) and I'll consider these opinions. If they appear to be valid, I'll edit the story to include them, and credit the person who offers that opinion.

Thanks.


	27. An Attempt At Cooking, and More Training

Chapter 27: An attempt at cooking, and more training

AN: I realised when I was writing chapter 26 that I've had the story running through Sonnet's eyes for quite a while. For a bit of variety this chapter will be through the eyes of Sonnet's roommate.

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Mizuki woke up around 08:00 the following morning, which was a Monday, to the distinct smell of something burning. She quickly climbed out of the bed and ran into the kitchen. In the kitchen, she saw Sonnet standing over the sink, and pouring the contents of a pan into the sink. The contents appeared to be burnt eggs.

Mizuki had to be careful not to grin at the sight of her roommate attempting to cook. She waited until Sonnet had put the pan down before saying:

"I thought the idea was for me to monitor you while you cooked something?"

"I figured I could cook some eggs and sausage for you to have for breakfast. I've seen Ran do that several times, and thought I could manage it myself."

"I told you that you can't learn how to cook by just watching someone, you need to be practical too."

"Which is what I was doing. Granted, not very well, but I was trying."

Sonnet dried off the pan, and tried again to cook a breakfast. Mizuki stood nearby and pointed out anything that might help Sonnet.

"Will you be working today?" Mizuki suddenly asked.

"Yes. I need to test a few things before we carry out my plan. Sometime today, I need you to bio-boost and try and sense me with your abilities. If you can it'll make things easier."

"OK, what else?"

"Get some training done with Ran and Mutaru sometime today."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Unless they are working somewhere?"

"I don't think so. Ran works in the local tennis centre, as an instructor, but I think that's from Tuesday to Friday."

"Ran likes tennis?"

"Yeah. First thing I did when I went to her school was play a few sets of tennis with her."

"Great, I play tennis sometimes. I'll have to play against her sometime, see how good we are. What about Mutaru?"

"He works part time in a nearby warehouse. Packing orders for supermarkets."

"Food?"

"No. Media products. CDs, DVDs etc. You should call by their apartment and check with them."

"Will do. By the way, how did your hunt go?"

"I killed four zoanoids: two Vamore, a Gregole and an Elegan."

"I thought you were only able to beat up to a Gregole without your armour."

"Using only brute strength, that's true," Sonnet's eyes glowed briefly, "But using my ESP, psycho kinesis to be precise, I can do a lot of damage."

"That's what you used to make that mug explode, isn't it?"

"Correct. I think you should also add a few details to my plan with Ran and Mutaru, but keep me out of the loop with them."

Upon seeing the puzzled look on Mizuki's face, Sonnet explained.

"That way, for example, you could select the time of the attack and I won't know, so I won't be acting to the same degree as if I had known in advance."

"It should also help to deflect suspicion against you."

"True. You've got quite an analytical mind, haven't you?"

"Yep. Part of living on the run for several years."

"Also, if you can sense me using your armour, you should be able to find the lab. I'll let you know in advance if I'm going to be there during any specific day."

"Why not just send a telepathic image?"

"Because Balcus is a zoalord, remember? He has powerful telepathic abilities. He could probably sense, or listen to, a telepathic conversation."

"Point taken. It would probably be best if we never contacted you, at all, when you're in the Chronos building."

"Good thinking. I'll contact you when I'm away from the building and then you can contact me after that. Please let the others know."

Mizuki nodded. During the conversation, Sonnet had partially cooked some eggs, and had started on the sausages. Several minutes later, Sonnet had cooked an edible, but slightly burnt, breakfast for her roommate. While Mizuki ate her food, Sonnet went into her bedroom and changed her clothes. Instead of wearing the white t-shirt and blue jeans she had been wearing after her 'hunt', and into a dark grey suit skirt, that went below her knees, and a matching jacket, with a white blouse underneath. She then tied her long hair back into a ponytail and returned to the kitchen area.

"I've got to head for work now. I'll see you later."

"OK. By the way, this was a pretty good second attempt for sausage and eggs."

"Thanks. Hopefully my third attempt will be better."

Sonnet then left the apartment and headed for the Chronos Japan building. After Sonnet had left, Mizuki cleared away the cooking stuff and went and took a hot bath. About 30 minutes later, she got out of the bath, dried herself off, and then got dressed. She decided to wear a green skirt that went to mid-calf, along with a black t-shirt, and blue trainers. She then made sure she had her apartment key, and tied her hair back. Mizuki then headed to Ran's apartment to discuss the plan as Sonnet had suggested.

After about a minute or so of walking, Mizuki arrived at the door to Ran's apartment.

_I hope that someone's in. _She thought as she knocked on the door. A couple of minutes later, Kyriu opened the door and looked at her.

"Ah, Mizuki. Come in."

"Thank you."

Kyriu opened the door fully, and allowed her to enter the apartment.

"Are Ran and Mutaru around, Mr. Kyriu?" Mizuki asked him.

"Yes, Ran is showering, but I think Mutaru called out to collect some things."

"OK, I'd like to see Ran, if that's all right?"

"Of course, as long as you don't mind waiting."

"Not at all."

Mizuki took a seat on the sofa where she had laid during her regeneration, and waited. While she was waiting, she took a look around the lounge of the apartment and noticed the book collection that Sonnet had mentioned. She glanced at the computer, noticing that it was switched off, and then turned to face the divide that the bookcase made between the lounge and the kitchen area as she heard a door open. A few seconds later, Ran entered the lounge area wearing a white blouse, which had a string-tie neckline, a red knee length skirt, short white socks and a pair of blue pumps on her feet.

"Hey, Mizuki, nice to see you up and about."

"Thanks Ran."

Ran then sat down on the sofa next to Mizuki.

"So, any particular reason you called round?"

"Several actually. Sonnet suggests we alter her plan somewhat, but don't tell her. She'll be able to claim ignorance more realistically then."

"Makes sense. What else?"

"I've got to see if I can sense her using my armour. She believes that Balcus may be able to detect telepathic communications, which could blow her cover."

"OK. Any other reasons?"

"Two. I think we should get in a little training today and possibly tomorrow."

"I was hoping you would suggest that. And the other?"

"Shopping. I noticed that Sonnet doesn't have much in the way of personal belongings. I'd like to get her something to decorate her apartment a little, as a thank you for her help, and her letting me live with her for a while, and you know her better than I do…"

"So you want me to help you in finding something she'd like?"

"Right. Any ideas?"

"Not right now. Let's go into town and see if anything looks suitable."

"Sure, but we need to let Mutaru know that we'll be training later."

Ran closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them she smirked at Mizuki.

"Done. We can meet him back here later on."

"How did you…?"

"I had telepathic abilities for a few years before becoming a Guyver, so I'm pretty skilled with it."

"Cool. Ready?"

"Once I get some money."

Ran walked back around the bookcase and entered her room. She then grabbed her purse and returned to the lounge. She then nodded at Mizuki, before the two of them headed for the door. On the way to the town centre, Mizuki asked:

"What does Sonnet like exactly? The only thing, besides reading, that she appears to have an interest in is playing tennis."

"She told you that?" Ran asked. When Mizuki nodded, while moving through a crowd, Ran continued, "Yeah, she likes tennis. She gives me a run for my money whenever we play, although she admitted to me that part of her tennis skill is down to her body makeup."

"I can see how it'd be useful. Maybe I should get her something tennis related?"

"It's an idea. Sports shops first?"

"Yeah. Lets see what there is."

There were at least three sports shops in the town centre, so Ran and Mizuki checked all of them, and found nothing really suitable. Next they tried some other shops, but still couldn't see anything that Sonnet might like. It was now almost midday, so Ran suggested getting something to eat. On the way to find a café, they passed a photograph shop, and Mizuki had an idea and went into the shop, and Ran followed. About twenty minutes later, Mizuki came out carrying a large, wrapped, rectangular object.

"Nice choice, Mizuki. I think Sonnet will like this."

"Yeah, the trick now is putting it up before she gets back home."

"We can ask Uncle later on. I suspect he'll help. Now, do you mind if we get something to eat? I'm starving."

"You're not the only one."

With that, the two of them went to the café that Mizuki had met Sonnet the night before after buying herself more clothes. The two women then ordered meals and drinks. Roughly half an hour later, as they were finishing eating, Ran's eyes went out of focus for a few seconds. When they re-focused, Mizuki asked:

"Something wrong?"

"No. Mutaru is back at the apartment. Should we head back?"

"Yeah. I think he should be keen on training. He was last time, according to Sonnet."

"'Keen' is probably an understatement."

After that, the walk back to the apartment was silent. When they arrived back, however, Mutaru was waiting.

"Hey, sis," He said, as they entered, "Hello Mizuki."

"Hi." Was Mizuki's reply.

"I take it you're up for a little combat training then?" Ran asked.

"Sure. Where are we going to go?"

"We can go anywhere," Mizuki informed him, "I can teleport, remember?"

"Right. I had forgotten, actually."

"Where should we go then? Mizuki asked.

"How about a rainforest environment?" Mutaru suggested.

"Why a rainforest?" Ran asked him.

"We've trained in a desert, so a rainforest would be a different environment. Plus, we could practise using the terrain to our advantage. Stealth manoeuvring, for example."

"Logical," Mizuki said, "After a fashion. Ran?"

"Sounds good to me. Just put that package by the bookcase. Uncle should notice it there, and leave it alone."

Mizuki did as Ran instructed.

"Are you two OK with using those clothes for training?" Mizuki asked, "I don't know what could happen to you, and those clothes could get ruined."

"I don't mind using these," Mutaru stated, "I changed into these before you two came home."

Mutaru was wearing old blue jeans that were a bit too short for him, as well as a white tank top and some old trainers.

Ran, on the other hand, said:

"I think I should use something older than these. Could you wait for a few minutes?"

Mizuki and Mutaru nodded. Ran then left the lounge and went to her bedroom. She took off her blouse, skirt and socks and placed them onto her bed. Then, wearing only her underwear, she looked through her wardrobe for something old. She quickly found some suitable items and put them on, and then returned to the lounge.

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Mizuki heard a door open and presumed that Ran was coming back. She was correct, Ran walked into the lounge a few seconds later. Ran was now wearing a large blue shirt, which was a bit too big for her since it went to mid-thigh, a pair of black shorts that were rather baggy, and the same blue pumps from before. She wore the shirt without tucking it into the waistband of her shorts.

"Ready?" Mizuki asked, standing up and moving close to Ran.

Ran nodded. Mizuki then turned to Mutaru, who had stood up and formed the other point of a triangle, and placed her left hand on Ran's right shoulder, and her right hand on Mutaru's left shoulder, before teleporting them away from the apartment.

The three friends reappeared several seconds later in the Amazon Rainforest. Mizuki moved a short distance away and activated her armour, becoming Guyver 5. Ran and Mutaru also bio-boosted, becoming Guyvers Red and Psychic.

"OK," Guyver 5 spoke up, "I think one of us should try to hunt down the other two, while the other two use the terrain to avoid the hunter."

"Essentially, hide-and-seek, in a rainforest, huh?" Psychic pointed out.

"I suppose so, but there's a twist. The players can use any of their armours weapons or abilities, except the mega-smashers, to disable their target, be it hunter, or prey."

"Who is going to be the hunter?" Psychic asked.

"I'd like to be the Huntress." Red said.

"OK. Do you mind, Psychic?"

"Nope. I'm not going to make it easy though, sis."

"I wouldn't expect you to. OK, you have two minutes. Get moving."

Underneath her armour, Ran closed her eyes, and started to count to 120. After the two minutes had passed, she opened her eyes again, and used her head sensor orbs. To her surprise, the range of them had been reduced by about 56%.

_There must be something in the plants here that throws off the effectiveness of the sensors._ She thought.

Red then realised that this exercise would allow her to practise using her eyes and ears, as well as her Guyver abilities.

_Wouldn't do to become dependant on the armour's powers anyway. Sonnet pointed out that they don't make you indestructible, just a lot harder to kill._

Red then moved away from her starting position, trying to find some clue to help her track her friends. Looking around she could see no human footprints anywhere.

_Neat trick. With the ground the way it is, they should be leaving quite heavy footprints in the soil. How did they do this?_

Red picked a random direction and headed that way. About twenty metres from her starting point, she noticed a single footprint in the ground. It was shaped like a human foot, and was indicating that the person who left it was heading approximately 90 degrees to the right of the direction she was facing. Red immediately changed direction, hoping to find prey. After about twelve minutes of searching around in the direction the footprint had pointed her head sensors twitched slightly. She spun round on instinct, only to find a few birds fly away from a nest in the trees. Ran had to be careful not to laugh under her armour, in case her brother or Mizuki heard her.

After another few minutes of hunting the area, her sensors twitched again. Red spun in the direction of the target her sensors had detected and pressed her hands together. She pulled them apart, forming a pressure cannon blast in the process, and fired it in the direction of the target. A second later she heard a short, loud scream as Psychic Guyver came out, clutching the stump where his right arm used to be. Red's shot had blown it off just above the elbow. Psychic then activated the sonic sword on his other arm and charged at Red. Red, instincts boosted because of her Guyver unit, reacted by jumping about 10 feet into the air, and doing a forward flip to get some distance between her and her brother. As she landed, she extended her own sonic swords and sliced at Psychic. The strike from her right sword cut deep into Psychic's stomach, spilling blood all over the ground. Psychic then fired a couple of head laser blasts at her, before dropping to his knees, and then falling on his face. One beam hit Red in her left thigh, and the other flew past her left hand, missing by mere millimetres. Red quickly moved away from Psychic, grabbing the severed arm in the process. She reattached it to the stump, before moving away to find her second target.

Guyver 5 had witnessed the whole thing, keeping incredibly still, so the sensors of Guyver Red wouldn't detect her. As Red moved away, Guyver 5 went to Psychic to check he was OK. After seeing that he would recover, she moved off after Red.

_Time to make the Huntress the prey._ She thought.

Red, meanwhile, was scanning the area as best she could using her sensors. She had a slight limp in her left leg, thanks to Psychic's laser beam, but was otherwise fine.

_Where is she? _Red wondered.

Guyver 5 had made use of her gravity orb, and had floated up so that she was able to move through the tree branches. This way she could observe Red from over 50 feet above her, and Red wouldn't be able to detect her very easily. After following her into a thinner group of trees, Guyver 5 decided that this was her best time to strike, and used her gravity orb to position herself directly above Guyver Red. She then activated her sonic swords, before deactivating her gravity control, and dropping on Red.

Red's sensors suddenly went ballistic, indicating a very close threat. Red barely got chance to react though. Time seemed to slow as she managed to turn to face her opponent, and activate her own sonic swords. Guyver 5 then changed her attack and sheathed her swords back into her wrists, instead drop-kicking Red as she landed. Guyver 5 then flipped herself back up of the ground before Red could get herself up off her back, and reactivated her swords. Before Red could react, Guyver 5 had sliced her cleanly in two, starting at Red's right shoulder and ending at her left hip. Blood gushed out of both parts of Red's body, turning Guyver 5 a mix of faded silver and (literally) blood red. Red's reaction was a very loud scream that lasted for almost a minute, before Ran lost consciousness and her pink eyes faded. Guyver 5 knew, from personal experience, that the armour had gone into self-defence mode. She replaced the severed part of Red's body and moved away, allowing the unit to heal its host, rebuilding the nerves, bones, tissues and muscles that connected the two halves of Red's body.

A few minutes later, Psychic walked up next to her. Guyver 5, on instinct, activated her sonic swords and moved to slice at him. Several millimetres from hitting him, she realised who it was, and froze her arm.

"Nice reflexes." Psychic commented.

"I worked out quite a bit after I started living on the run. Sho and Agito decided that learning as many self-defence techniques as possible would help us to survive. So I spent months learning various sports that relied on reflexes, honing mine as much as I could."

"I guess it worked. What did you do to her?" Psychic asked, looking at Guyver Red.

"I cut her up from the shoulder to the opposite hip."

"Ouch. That must have hurt."

"I think it did, the host is unconscious right now. She should be fine in about an hour, at best."

"I'm impressed though." Psychic commented.

"How so?" Guyver 5 asked.

"You became the Huntress, turning her into the prey. And you certainly hurt her."

"I hope she doesn't hate me later."

"Nah, I don't think so. We realised from the beginning, after Blue gave us our armours that anything could happen to us. Either in training with an ally, or in a battle against the enemy. Red and I both agreed that we would learn to deal with anything that happened to us."

"Like you getting your arm blown off?"

"Right. Hey, you saw that?"

"I watched the whole thing, but I couldn't move because Red would have detected me, and I wanted to turn the tables."

"Which, from the looks of things, you did so quite nicely."

"Thank you."

The conversation ended there, for a while. Then Psychic Guyver asked:

"If you don't mind my asking: What made you want to become a Guyver?"

"I don't mind. The reason was because I'd seen how much Sho had suffered because of Chronos, and I wanted to fight alongside him to destroy them. To an extent though, it's also partially revenge."

"Really?"

"Yes, I don't know if you know this, but Sho's father was killed because of Chronos. They turned him into a special hyper zoanoid, designed to kill Guyvers. The zoanoid, the prototype Enzyme II, was then controlled mentally by Dr Balcus and tried to kill Guyver 1. Guyver 1, for obvious reasons couldn't fight back."

"I think I understand," Psychic interrupted, "I don't think I'd be able to attack Uncle if he was in that situation."

"Precisely. Anyway, since Guyver 1 couldn't fight back, Balcus made Enzyme II use its acid, which can dissolve the Guyver armour. It hit Guyver 1 in the face, and blinded him. The Enzyme then grabbed his head, and crushed his brain."

Under his armour, Mutaru felt his stomach turn.

"This was when we first learned about the self-defence mode of a Guyver. The problem is, it can't tell the difference between a friend and an enemy, it just defends its unconscious, or dead, host. After a long fight, Guyver 1 opened its mega-smashers and vaporised Enzyme II. All that was left was half of an arm, which later dissolved, like all zoanoid remains do. When Sho woke up, he had no memory of what had happened. He later found that he was traumatised, and couldn't summon his armour."

"Oh my God. No wonder Sho hates Chronos so much."

"Yeah, I hope none of us ever have to go through anything like that again."

"Wait, if he couldn't summon his armour, then…"

"How is he able to now?"

Psychic nodded.

"Aptom, one of the experimental one-of-a-kind zoanoids, held a grudge against Sho, because Guyver 1 killed his team mates. When we were in hiding, he managed to capture me. He told Sho what had happened to his father, filling in the blanks of his memory, and then threatened to kill him and me. Sho then, somehow, managed to regain the power of the Guyver. He rescued me from Aptom, and later killed him. After that, I realised how he felt about me."

"That he loved you?"

"Yes. He asked me on a date a few weeks later. Somehow, he managed to book a table in an Italian restaurant, and we went there for a meal, without Chronos crashing the place. It was great. After that, I realised that I loved him too, and I asked him to be my boyfriend the next day."

"For what it's worth, congratulations."

"Thanks. Do me a favour though?"

"Sure."

"Don't tell Sho that I told you all of this. He hasn't decided if he trusts you yet, although he will soon."

"OK. No problem. Should we try to wake her? I think she's regenerated now."

"I'll do it."

[Guyver Red, wake up. Guyver Red, wake up.] Guyver 5 telepathically said to her friend.

After a minute or two, Red's control medal began to glow, and her eyes glowed pink again. Guyver 5, and Psychic walked towards her as she vented steam from her mouth vents. Guyver 5 held out her hand to Red, who took it and pulled herself up.

"I'm impressed, Guyver 5. You caught me completely off guard."

"Are you OK?" Guyver 5 asked.

"I feel a bit sore, but I think that'll fade. Mind taking us home?"

Guyver 5 placed her hands on her friends' shoulders and then teleported them back to the apartment. When they arrived, Kyriu was there, working at the computer.

"Hello you three. Had fun?"

The three of them deactivated their armours, and Mutaru went into his room to change, before Ran replied:

"We were training, Uncle, and Mizuki managed to surprise me."

"Let me guess, she cut you in two?"

"How did you know?"

Kyriu looked at Ran's stomach. To Ran's shock, the shirt was in two pieces, split with a diagonal cut. The smaller piece was the part on Ran's shoulders, which also covered her chest. The larger piece had fallen onto the floor. Mizuki then realised what had happened.

"Remember that the armour can't do anything for clothes. If a host is cut, the cut will heal on the body, but the clothes will keep the mark. Since I cut you up, your shirt would have stayed in two pieces even though your body had healed."

Ran, blushing, quickly picked up the cut piece and went to her bedroom, to change her clothes. Mizuki then explained to Kyriu what the package was and asked him to put it up for her. Kyriu agreed, and they went to Sonnet's apartment. Twenty minutes later, the picture was up on the wall to the left of the lounge in Sonnet's apartment, if Mizuki stood with her back to the door. The two of them then went back to the other apartment. Ran and Mutaru had changed their clothes, and were sitting on the sofa. Ran was wearing what she had worn earlier in the day, when she was shopping with Mizuki, and Mutaru was wearing another pair of blue jeans, ones that fit him and a green and yellow jumper with a hood attached. Ran, Mizuki noticed, had wet hair.

_She must have showered while we were putting the picture up._ Mizuki thought.

Mizuki then sat down in the chair that had its back to the glass doors leading to the balcony, and attempted to apologise to Ran. Ran, however just told her not to worry. They then started working on ways to alter Sonnet's plan.


	28. Group Discussion & Resting

Chapter 28: Group Discussion & Resting

After a couple of hours, the three friends had made a few modifications to Sonnet's plan, which should, in theory; help draw some suspicion away from her after it had been carried out. It was now getting into the evening, when Mizuki glanced at the clock over the sofa, she realised it was 18.54.

"Sonnet must be working late today."

"Funny, I was just thinking that myself," Ran commented, "Wonder what she's doing?"

Mizuki got up from her chair, and closed the curtains for the balcony doors.

"What are you doing?" Mutaru asked.

"Something Sonnet asked me to try." Came the reply.

Mizuki then activated her armour, without generating a blast field. Guyver 5's head sensors then moved around in their groves for a minute. The Guyver armour then disappeared, and Mizuki sat back down.

"Sonnet's just leaving the Chronos Japan building and heading back here."

"How can you tell?" Mutaru asked.

"She asked me to see if I could sense her using my armour's sensors, since my teleportation ability will be needed to carry out her plan."

"How did summon your armour without the blast field?" Ran asked.

"I'm not completely sure, to be honest. Last night, Sonnet sensed a zoanoid approaching her apartment. For safety reasons, she asked me to teleport to the roof and then bio-boost. When I became Guyver 5, I didn't generate the field, but I couldn't work out how. When we went to the Amazon earlier, I experimented, and found a way that seems to work. Three times out of three, so far."

"I take it you tried this experimenting before you took the Huntress role?" Ran asked.

"Yep."

There was a short silence, before Kyriu walked into the lounge.

"Hello all. Been busy?"

"Yeah, we have." Mutaru replied.

"Where's Sonnet? Isn't she home yet?"

"She on her way. Give her a few minutes."

"Anyone hungry?" Ran suddenly asked.

"Yeah a little," Mutaru answered, "Mizuki?"

"Not at the moment. I'm gonna go back anyway."

Mizuki then stood up.

"See you all later."

"Let us know what Sonnet thinks of your little present." Ran said, as Mizuki opened the door.

"Will do. See you later."

As Mizuki closed the door, she saw Mutaru mouth to Ran 'What present?' She smiled, realising that Mutaru had forgotten about the package she had been carrying earlier in the day. She then returned to Sonnet's apartment and went into the bathroom. The bathroom, conveniently, had a full-length dress mirror on the wall next to the door. Mizuki looked at her appearance in that mirror. To her surprise, she didn't look tired or stressed from the training earlier in the day. Her clothes, however, looked rather rumpled and Mizuki decided clean up and change. She ran a hot bath, took the ties from her hair, and removed her clothes, before spending almost an hour soaking in the hot water, in between washing her body and hair. After her bath, she dried herself with a towel, and then went into her bedroom. She picked out some clothes that she could wear for a couple of hours, and dressed herself, before going into the lounge.

When she entered, she noticed Sonnet sitting in the chair she had used the night before, looking at the picture on the wall over the sofa. The picture Mizuki had bought for her was a large aerial photograph of Wimbledon, the tennis stadium in England.

"Do you like it?" Mizuki asked.

Sonnet turned to her.

"Yes, I do. But where did it come from?"

"I bought it for you. Remember me asking you about decorations in the apartment?"

Sonnet nodded.

"I spoke to Ran about buying you something to decorate the place with, and she mentioned you liked tennis."

"I thought I'd told you that this morning?"

"Not exactly. You said you'd played tennis against Ran, not that you liked it yourself. Anyway, I saw this in a shop in town and Ran agreed with me that you would probably like it. So I bought it and Kyriu put it up before we went out training around midday today."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Mizuki then sat down on the sofa, underneath the picture.

"Don't get the wrong impression here", Sonnet said, "I'm grateful, but why did you buy it for me? I get the feeling that it wasn't just for decorative purposes."

"You're perceptive, aren't you? OK. The other reason I bought it for you was because I wanted to say 'thank you' for letting me live here, and helping us out those times you have."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I wanted to."

"Well. Thank you Mizuki. You're right; it does make the place seem a little more home-like."

Mizuki smiled when Sonnet said that. Sonnet then said:

"I take it you were having a bath when I got home?"

"Yes, I must have been in there for close to an hour. How did you know?"

"When I came into the apartment, I heard water splashing, so I presumed you were in the bathroom."

"Yes, I was."

"So I waited out here until you had finished. I'm going to shower myself, in a minute. Then I want to talk to the three of you, find out how your training went."

"OK. I'm gonna make myself a snack while your doing that."

"Right. See you in about 10 minutes."

As Sonnet walked to the bathroom, Mizuki glanced at the clock.

_Ten minutes. What can I make as a snack in ten minutes?_ She thought.

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Sonnet entered the bathroom and shut the door. She pulled the bands, and pin, from her hair and placed them on edge of the sink. After that, she started the shower running, removed the suit she had been wearing, and showered herself. Then, like Mizuki had done, she dried herself off and changed into a pair of dark blue jeans, white socks, and a beige t-shirt, before going into the lounge.

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In the lounge, Mizuki was eating what she had made while Sonnet had been showering. As Sonnet entered, Mizuki said:

"I had another message from Guyver 1 while you were showering."

"Oh?" Sonnet replied, curious.

"Yeah. He's given me a few more details on what he might need your help with. He says that Zeus Thunderbolt operatives within Chronos have found a secret zoanoid production facility, near to Mt Narisawa. It's also a library, for lack of a better term. Sometime after your plan has been carried out, he wants to raid the facility. Gather as much information as possible and then destroy it."

"OK. I'll help him out." Sonnet answered. She then used the organisms on her back to talk telepathically to Guyver 1.

[Guyver 1.]

[Yeah Blue?]

[Guyver 5 has just told me of your plan. I want to tell you that I'll help you in anyway I can.]

[Thank you, Blue. Your assistance will be useful.]

[I want a copy of all information you obtain from the raid though.]

There was a short pause before Guyver 1 replied:

[That's not going to be a problem. Do you mind if I ask why?]

[I wouldn't be surprised if Chronos have spies working within Taron. I want to know as much about them as possible.]

[OK. Fair enough. See you soon.]

The communication then ended.

"You might also be interested to know, that they have finished moving to the ZT base."

"That's good." Sonnet replied.

Sonnet then thought for a minute.

"That explains why those Enzyme II's attacked you at Mt Narisawa. You must have gone too close to that facility."

"Possibly. How do you know that for sure?"

"Balcus informed me of that facility today. He said that my design was being sent there and will be mass produced there if the prototypes are a success."

"Right. Interesting timing."

Mizuki then went quiet for a few minutes. She then asked:

"You don't mind if I stay here a bit longer though, do you?"

"Of course not."

"Thanks. I'll probably rejoin Sho and Agito after we've executed your plan."

"Fine with me. Should we head over to Ran's?"

"You want to learn about our training today?"

Sonnet nodded. Mizuki then went into the kitchen and put her plate and glass into the dishwasher, before joining Sonnet in the lounge. As they left, and headed for Ran's, Mizuki commented:

"I bet your dishwasher won't be used very often."

"Probably not, since I don't eat, and glasses can be hand washed easily enough."

The two women then arrived at the door to Ran's apartment. Sonnet knocked on it, and they entered when Mutaru opened it. The next half an hour was then spent discussing the training events and Sonnet informing them that she would be in the development labs at various points during the development of her design prototypes. After the discussion, Sonnet and Mizuki went back to their apartment. Once inside, Sonnet turned to Mizuki.

"You spent a lot of time learning self defence techniques that could hone your reflexes. How good do you think they are?"

"Pretty good. Why?"

"I'd like to try a one-on-one training duel with you, if you don't mind? I'm curious as to how quick you are, especially after learning how you turned the tables on Ran."

"I was hoping you'd ask. Would it be possible tomorrow morning, before you go to work?"

"Sure. I look forward to it. I'll wake you up around 06.00, OK?"

"Fine. I'd better get some sleep then, if I'm getting up that early. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sonnet replied.

After Mizuki had gone to bed, Sonnet decided to go on another zoanoid hunt. She went into her room, and retrieved the bodysuit from her wardrobe. She then changed into it, putting her other clothes onto the back of the chair that was in the corner of the room. She then had to go to the bathroom to retrieve her hairpin, and activate it before she teleported herself near to the Chronos building.

_Ready or not, here I come._ Blue Sonnet thought, as she began hunting for active zoanoids.

She wasn't expecting to find many around, since most of the time they go around in their human forms, but there might be a few around somewhere. Blue Sonnet then concentrated her ESP abilities and tried to detect a zoanoid, or two.

After several minutes of hunting near the Chronos building, Blue Sonnet decided to move some distance away. She turned towards the northeast and began searching in that direction. Almost half an hour must have passed, before she faintly detected three zoanoids about 5 metres away from her current location. She decided to make use of her cyborg-enhanced legs, and started running. Thirty seconds later she arrived at the area where she had sensed the zoanoids, only to find that there was only one left, and it was wearing a hood that covered its head and face.

_What happened to the others?_ She wondered, before deciding to attack the remaining one.

She charged at it, and drew her left arm back, her hand clenched into a fist. Just before she could hit the zoanoid, it turned around and grabbed her fist in a tight grip that, if she were still human, would be painful. As a cyborg, however, Sonnet felt very little pain. The zoanoid then pulled the hood off its head, and said.

"I wouldn't advise that. I don't want to accidentally break your arm."

_Aptom!_ Blue Sonnet realised.

"Your probably the only person who could, without taking on a zoanoid form," Blue Sonnet replied, "I take it you were hungry?" She indicated the remains of the other two zoanoids.

"Yep. I've gotta feed. Besides, those two Ramotith were too cocky anyway. They don't realise how much power I posses." Aptom replied.

"OK. I wont attack you. I just felt like killing a few zoanoids."

"As did I."

"You said you were feeding?"

"Yeah, but they die after I've fed off their zoanoid life-force."

"Fair point." Blue Sonnet conceded, while thinking _'Smartass'._

"I've heard about your new role," Aptom suddenly said, "Aren't you taking a few risks?"

Blue Sonnet quickly scanned the area for any zoanoids, people or recording devices, using her infrared eyes. Her scan turned up negative.

_I don't want anyone else hearing this._ She thought, she then indicated a nearby apartment block, about 10 floors high. Aptom turned to look and then, before he could react, Blue Sonnet crouched, and then jumped up to the rooftop of the building. She quickly scanned this rooftop as well; to make sure it was clear, before Aptom landed next to her.

"Care to elaborate?" She asked him.

"Simple. You're working as a Zoanoid Developer, under the command of Dr Balcus. At the same time, you're doing your little vigilante act, wearing a very enticing outfit," He gestured at the skin-tight bodysuit she was wearing, "And you're working with the Guyvers, as Guyver Blue, to destroy Chronos."

"So?"

"Look, my friend, I know you're not stupid, so don't act it now. Sooner or later, someone in Chronos will discover one of those extra roles. When that happens, you, and your friends, who are also Guyvers, will be in trouble."

"I'm aware of that, Aptom. I'm setting up contingency plans, should that happen."

"It WILL happen," Aptom stated, "Count on that."

"Fine. Is there anything else?"

"No, actually. I'll see you around, Blue Sonnet."

Aptom then turned away from her, ran to the edge of the rooftop, and jumped from it onto a higher one nearby. Leaving Blue Sonnet thinking about what he said.

_He should know that I've already considered what he explained to me. I'm glad that he's realised it though. Mizuki has probably thought about it as well, based on some of the things she has said, Sho and Agito have probably had similar thoughts, Ran and Mutaru, however, are a different story. I'll have to discuss this with them._

Blue Sonnet then decided to continue her hunt. After almost four hours of trailing around the city, she had killed seven zoanoids, including an Enzyme II, with her psycho kinesis ability. After that, she decided to return home.

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AN: I thought that it was about time I brought Aptom into this story, since he was briefly mentioned in chapter 21. I'll be bringing Bird, or RX-606, into the story soon as well.


	29. Duel & Development

Chapter 29: Duel & Development

As she materialised in her apartments lounge, Sonnet retracted the large blue lenses back into her hairpin, and removed it from her hair. She then looked at the clock and realised that it was only 02:27.

_Another three and a half hours before I need to wake Mizuki up,_ She thought, _What can I do in that time?_

Sonnet glanced around the apartment, and realised that Mizuki was right. There was little in the way of personal possessions here, which also left her with very little to do in her free time.

_Damn! It's really irritating sometimes, not having to sleep. That would have killed three hours easily._

Sonnet then remembered the white t-shirt and blue jeans she had worn last time she had taken part in a training fight. She retrieved them from the drawer she had put them in, and got the trainers out of her wardrobe. She then put them onto her bed.

_These should be fine for at least three more training sessions. I might as well change into them; they'll be more comfortable than this suit, anyway._

Sonnet took a coat hanger from her wardrobe, and hooked it to the handle on the wardrobe door. She then removed the bodysuit, letting it fall to the floor, before she put on some underwear, and then the jeans and t-shirt. Sonnet then picked up the bodysuit and hung both pieces onto the hanger, and placed that back into her wardrobe.

_Great, that killed five minutes. What else can I do?_

Sonnet moved to the window of her bedroom, opened the curtains and stared out of the window. Then she decided that she could observe the city better from either her balcony, or the building rooftop. She closed her bedroom curtains again, put the trainers on her feet, and went out onto her balcony, folded her arms, and leaned against the railing. There was a faint, cool, breeze blowing outside, which picked up her long hair, making it flap around. Sonnet then glanced at the stars.

_Cool, quiet nights are pleasant around here. I wonder why I've never thought to do this before? It's quite relaxing, maybe I should get some furniture for the balcony, so I can do this more often._

Sonnet then remembered a conversation she had had with Kyriu several months ago, not long after she became Guyver Blue. He had suggested to her that she started keeping a journal, to allow her to remember events that had happened to her during her life. Sonnet had bluntly replied that she had a perfect (cyborg enhanced) memory so she could easily remember anything that had happened to her without the need to refer to a written version. Kyriu had also offered to give her a blank journal book to use as a journal. Sonnet wondered if she could still take up that offer. She knew where Kyriu kept the blank journals, so she could easily go to his apartment and take one for her use. However, she thought it would be better to check with him first, simply taking one of them would essentially be stealing, and Sonnet wasn't a thief.

_Problem is, _She thought,_ it's 03:00, and I doubt he's awake at this time in the morning._

Sonnet stared out at the landscape of Tokyo for a few more minutes, before she realised that she might be wrong. Kyriu sometimes worked early in the morning; maybe this was one of those times? Sonnet went back into her apartment, locked the balcony door behind her, picked up her door key, left the apartment, locked her door and headed for Ran's apartment. She stopped outside the door, and switched her eyes to see infrared. Now, she could see all nearby heat traces, including body heat. She looked through the door of the apartment and noticed that there was a faint infrared signature in the kitchen. She teleported herself from the hallway, into the lounge and then made her way to the kitchen.

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Ran was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water. She had woken up about five minutes ago, feeling thirsty. So she decided to get a drink. She put the glass down on the counter, turned around and flinched, when she saw Sonnet standing there.

"Sorry, Ran, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't worry, just let my nerves calm down and I'll be fine. Why are you here? Even better, how did you get in? I know the front door is locked."

"I wanted to see your Uncle, and I teleported myself from the hallway."

"Oh, OK. Well, he's asleep right now."

"I figured that, I was hoping the infrared signature I saw from the hallway was his. I guess it wasn't."

"What do you want him for?"

"I don't know if you remember, but he suggested to me a while back that I keep a journal. I told him that…"

"…You had a perfect memory and 'didn't see the point in a journal.'"

"Correct."

"If I remember correctly, he also offered to give you a blank book to use."

"Yes, he did. I was hoping that offer was still open?"

"I don't think he'd mind. You could have just taken it, couldn't you? I mean you know where he keeps them?"

"Yes I could, and yes I do. I didn't want to do that without checking first. Taking something without permission is stealing, which is something I don't want to do."

"OK. I can understand, and respect that. Hold on."

Ran then headed to the lounge and crouched down next to Kyriu's desk. After a few seconds of searching, she grabbed something, stood up, and flinched again, as she saw Sonnet standing right behind her.

"For not trying to scare me, you do a good job of it."

"I'm sorry, it's just a habit: moving around as quietly as possible."

"I bet you can't do that with those high heel shoes that you wear with your suits."

"Not as easily, no."

"Anyway, here."

Ran passed the blank book she had picked up, from next to the desk, to Sonnet. The taller woman took the book and tucked it under her arm.

"Thank you. Could you let your Uncle know?"

"Of course."

"Also, if he wants me to, I'll pay him for it."

"I don't think he'll be that bothered, but I'll tell him."

"Thanks."

"If you don't mind my asking, what made you change your mind about keeping a journal?"

"Frankly. I'm bored right now. I have just over three and a half hours before I have a one-on-one training duel with Mizuki, and I have nothing to occupy the time with."

"So you're going to spend the next three hours writing journal entries?"

"Why not? It kills the time."

"I suppose so. Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm going back to bed now."

"OK, see you."

Sonnet then teleported herself back to her own apartment. She checked the door was locked, before getting a tray from the kitchen and a pen from her small cabinet in the corner of the lounge, and going back out onto the balcony. Once outside, she sat down on the ground, crossed her legs, placed the tray across her legs, with the journal on the tray, and began writing about events that had happened to her before, and after, she became a Guyver.

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Mizuki woke up at about 05:50; a few minutes before the time she had asked Sonnet to wake her at. She decided that it would be pointless going back to sleep, so she got up and went into the lounge area of the apartment. To her surprise, Sonnet wasn't in the lounge. Mizuki glanced around, and saw her friend sitting cross-legged on the balcony, with her back to the glass doors.

_What is she doing?_ Mizuki wondered, _Meditating?_

Mizuki walked to the doors, opened them, and took a few steps onto the balcony. Before she reached Sonnet, her bare feet started to feel the cold of the balcony floor.

"Morning Mizuki," Sonnet suddenly said, "You might want to go back inside, it's a little warmer in there."

Mizuki did so, and Sonnet got up and followed her, carrying her new journal under her arm. She closed the curtains over the doors as she entered, and placed the journal on the coffee table next to the doors.

"What's that?" Mizuki asked, indicating the book.

"My journal. Kyriu suggested a while ago that I should keep one, but I told him I didn't see any point, since I had a perfect memory anyway."

"But you're keeping one now?"

"Yes. It'll give me something to do during my free time when you're either asleep, or elsewhere."

"OK."

Sonnet heard the uncertainty in Mizuki's voice.

"Something wrong?"

"I'm just concerned that it might not be such a good idea for you to keep a written journal. What if Chronos find it? If they determined it was your handwriting, they could learn everything about you."

Sonnet frowned.

"Good point. I didn't consider that."

"Is there anywhere you can hide it?"

Sonnet looked carefully around the apartment. She looked especially hard at points on the ceiling. After a minute, she turned to Mizuki.

"I think I have somewhere. I'll need your help though."

"Sure. What can I do?"

Sonnet smiled.

"Some parts of the ceiling in the lounge are just hollow spaces between this apartment, and the one on the floor above," She began, "So…"

"…Cut a hole in the ceiling, and hide it there." Mizuki finished.

Sonnet looked surprised.

"Did you read my mind?"

"No. I don't have that ability. I just guessed that that was what you were going to say."

"You're correct. There will be a cover piece for the hole, which will be a square shape, and the sides will need to be cut at an angle, something like this," Sonnet sent a telepathic image of what she meant to Mizuki. In Mizuki's mind, she saw a shape, which was a bit like a 'v', but with a larger base, "So that it can be removed and replaced at any time, yet not fall out."

"Why me though? You can see which area you want to put it in."

"I can't activate my unit without the energy field, but you can."

Mizuki thought about this for a second.

"OK. GUYVER!!"

Mizuki's faded silver Guyver armour then wrapped around her body. She activated her gravity orb, and floated herself towards the ceiling.

"Where would you like me to cut?"

Sonnet changed her eyes to infrared mode again, and looked back at the ceiling. She then guided Guyver 5 to the point she had in mind. Once she was in position, Guyver 5 cut the hole and then gestured that Sonnet should hand her the journal book.

"Not yet, slide the cover piece to one side. I want to take a look."

Guyver 5 did so, before asking:

"How will you see it from down there?"

"Simple. My eyes can be altered. If I want to, I can see infrared signatures, radiation levels, that kind of thing. I can also zoom in and out like a pair of binoculars."

"Sounds useful. You won't ever have to buy any then. You have them built…"

Guyver 5 trailed off, worried she had offended Sonnet.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

To Guyver 5's surprise, Sonnet grinned, and then started laughing. After about 10 seconds, she stopped and turned to look at Guyver 5, still grinning.

"Don't worry about it. Actually, that was quite funny."

"I didn't offend you then?"

"Only for a second. But I don't care. I said to Ran a while ago that being a cyborg has its uses, and I listed a few things that I considered a benefit. I never considered the zoom in/out ability on my eyes though."

Mizuki smiled beneath her armour. At the same time, Sonnet focused her eyes on the hole, and zoomed in. She saw a smoothly cut hole, which had edges at an angle of about 25 degrees. She then returned her vision to normal.

"It looks good."

"Great. Could you pass me the book please?"

"No. I want to try something. If this works, I can retrieve or hide the journal without your help."

"So if I'm not here, you can still read it or write in it."

"Exactly."

Sonnet's zoomed her eyes back in on the hole, before concentrating her ESP powers. Her eyes started to glow a brighter blue than their natural colour. A few seconds later the journal book lifted from the coffee table, and floated up to the hole. Using her close up view, Sonnet positioned the book so that it would fit, and then lifted it up into the hole and sliding it to one side, away from the cover piece. Finally, she telekinetically slid the cover piece back to where it used to be and returned her eyes to normal again. From her perspective, there was only a slight trace of the hole: very faint lines where the edges were. From Guyver 5's point of view, there was no sign of the hole at all. She slowly lowered herself to the floor, disengaged her unit and looked up at the gap.

"Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself," Mizuki commented, "I doubt anyone would notice it, even if they knew what to look for."

"Yep, good job."

"Thanks."

Sonnet turned around and opened the curtains covering the balcony door before saying:

"Are you ready for our little duel now?"

"Anytime you are. I'll eat and shower when I get back. I don't want to eat now because if you stab me in the stomach…"

"I understand," She said, turning back to face her, "Shouldn't you change your clothes? Those will take any damage you do, and won't be fixed by the armour."

Mizuki looked at the dark red pyjamas that she was wearing.

"No, I'll be fine in these. I think I should only ruin one set of clothes though."

"Smart thinking. I'll train in these, like I did before."

"You already thought of that for yourself."

"Yep. I mentioned it to Ran and Mutaru as well. So, where to?"

Mizuki thought about possible locations, before replying:

"I wouldn't mind returning to the Sahara Desert. It's a large, wide-open, area, which will make it hard for either of us to hide."

"OK. Let's go."

Sonnet held out her hand to Mizuki, who took it. The two of them then vanished in a flash of blue light, only to reappear a few seconds later somewhere in the Sahara Desert. Sonnet instantly moved away from Mizuki before summoning her unit, becoming Guyver Blue. Mizuki, not having to worry about an energy field, simply summoned her unit as soon as Sonnet stepped back.

Guyver 5 and Guyver Blue stood opposite each other, and prepared for combat.

"Don't hold back, Blue."

"Same to you. I want to see how good a fighter you are now, without any restraints."

The two Guyvers then began slowly circling each other. Both appeared to be waiting for the other to make the first move, which caused a short stalemate. Suddenly, Blue ran at Guyver 5, and extended the sonic sword from her left wrist. Guyver 5 had been expecting that to be her first move, and jumped up high to avoid it. In midair, she activated her gravity orb, and prepared a pressure cannon blast. As Blue turned around, Guyver 5 fired the shot. Guyver 5 could picture Sonnet's face under the armour. The cyborg was probably a little surprised at Guyver 5's agility, but only for a few seconds. Blue then jumped back a couple of metres to avoid the gravity ball. As it impacted the ground, it created a large crater in the sand, blowing sand particles everywhere in a large cloud. Guyver 5's vision was obstructed by this, which gave Blue a few seconds to locate Guyver 5, using her infrared eyes, floating about ten metres in the air. Blue then jumped up towards her opponent, passed Guyver 5's face by a few centimetres and carried on heading up. At the tip of her jump, Blue angled her body so that she would be able to land behind Guyver 5, as she started to succumb to gravity again; she released the sonic swords from her wrists and sliced at Guyver 5 as she passed her again. To her surprise, the swords only cut through the air where Guyver 5 was supposed to be. As she landed, Blue looked around, using her infrared eyes and head sensors, for Guyver 5.

_Where is she?_ Blue wondered.

Guyver 5, meanwhile, had materialised about seven metres away from her previous location. After sensing Blue near to her, she had teleported herself, on instinct, out of danger.

_I didn't expect her to try that!_ Guyver 5 thought, a little shaken by Blue's manoeuvre.

Guyver 5 then deactivated her gravity orb, and fell back down to the sandy desert surface. She landed gracefully, bending her knees just before her feet touched the ground, allowing her legs to absorb the shock of her landing. Her immediate reaction after landing was to scan the area for any traces of Blue. Not too surprising, Blue had already sensed her location, and was heading right towards her!

Guyver 5 decided to fight Guyver Blue this time, not avoid her. As Blue closed to within half a metre of her, Guyver 5 spun round, released the sonic sword in her left wrist and stabbed at Blue. Blue's reflexes helped her out here, as she spun to the right, and avoided Guyver 5's sonic sword stab. Guyver 5 however, quickly released the sword in her right wrist, as Blue passed in front of her right hand. The blade stabbed through Blue's stomach area and carried on through her torso, coming out above her right hip.

Underneath her armour, Blue flinched as she felt the blade slice through her, but carried on moving away from Guyver 5. Blue suddenly saw an attack opportunity: Guyver 5 had kept herself lined up with her, so she could see her fully the whole time. Blue used this to her advantage, and suddenly stopped moving. Before Guyver 5 could react, Blue placed her hands on Guyver 5's shoulders and pulled herself up, before putting both feet onto Guyver 5's chest and pushing backwards, performing a back-flip away from Guyver 5. This move gave her a little momentum and put some distance between the two combatants. As she landed, Guyver Blue fired two pressure cannon blasts, one from each palm. Still a little dazed from getting kicked in the chest; Guyver 5 only managed to move away from one gravity blast. The second one caught her right arm, just below the shoulder and blew it off.

Guyver 5 felt her arm get blasted away, and screamed quite loudly for a few seconds, before concentrating, and filtering out the pain from her mind. She then reactivated her gravity orb and flew backwards, away from Guyver Blue, giving her a few seconds to think of an attack strategy to use as a counterattack. The counterattack she came up with was quite a simple one: as she landed, and saw Blue run towards her, Guyver 5 stopped her a short distance away using the sonic disruptor.

Guyver Blue, courtesy of her cyborg enhanced hearing, was greatly affected by the sound of the disruptor, more so than a non-cyborg. Even she felt great pain in her head and upper chest, the sonic pulse was shaking her body's cells, and it clearly hurt her, as she dropped to her knees in pain, holding her head. Guyver 5 made use of Blue's fall, and charged her pressure cannon, building the most powerful gravity ball she could. She then ceased with the sonic disruptor, and fired the cannon.

Guyver Blue felt the pain receding from her head and chest, and started to get to her feet. She only managed to focus herself again, before she felt the gravity blast coming towards her. She quickly evaluated her options, and decided on the best course ofaction. Slightly quicker than Guyver 5's eyes could see, she fell on her back in the sand, flipped herself to her feet and jumped herself up.

Guyver 5 noticed Blue starting to jump; a mere second before the gravity ball hit her. She wasn't quite quick enough though: she managed to jump high enough to get herself clear from the waist up. Her legs were another matter. The power of the blast, even though it only hit her left leg, was great enough to blast both legs, and a small chunk of her torso clean off her body. As she landed, and instantly fell on her side, she realised that she only had one possible move left, and began charging her mega-smashers. She quickly opened her chest plates, and fired the white-hot energy beam at Guyver 5. Since her position was somewhat lower than Guyver 5, Guyver Blue's attack didn't do as much damage as she had hoped. The beam had vaporised most of Guyver 5's right side, including her right arm, part of her torso, and her right leg. Guyver 5 also fell to the ground, landing on her left side.

The area was quiet for almost half an hour, before either Guyver attempted to speak again. Guyver Blue was about to inform Guyver 5 that she had fought very well, and would definitely give Chronos trouble in the future. Before she opened her mouth, however, she sensed that Guyver 5 was concentrating on focusing herself, physically and mentally. Her unit had already started to work on regenerating her body, but the unit's host was using all of her concentration to deal with the pain she was feeling. Blue decided that it would be unwise to try talking to Guyver 5 for the time being, so she activated her gravity orb, which was somehow still working even after the amount of damage her armour had sustained, and lifted herself so that she was floating a few metres off the desert floor.

Once high enough, she began to look around her immediate area, hoping that some of the blown off parts of her body had survived. After nearly ten minutes of careful searching, using her zoom vision, she spotted the blasted off parts of her body. Both of her legs were still intact, although somewhat damaged, as were most of her waist and lower torso.

_This will be an interesting challenge._ Blue thought as she manoeuvred herself so that she was hovering horizontally over her separated body parts. She then lowered herself, and when she was close enough, reached out and picked up her lower torso, and attached it to her body. She then waited for a few minutes, to make sure her armour was healing the injuries, before reaching down again, grabbing her severed legs one at a time, and reattaching them to her body as well. Now, she realised, she was almost in one piece. The only thing ruining that was the hole where her stomach would be.

_Her blast was very powerful, _Blue thought; _She could easily blow apart almost any zoanoid with a power like that._

Blue then analysed her condition. According to the information her brain was receiving from her unit, it would take approximately 38 minutes to heal the hole in the stomach area, and reconnect all of the nerves, muscles, tendons and tissues between her waist and her legs.

_I guess I'll be floating around for a while longer yet._ She thought, smiling slightly under her armour. She then moved back to Guyver 5's position to check on her. The other Guyver had regenerated quite a lot while Blue had been out searching. She now had almost half of her missing arm, and over two-thirds of her torso regenerated.

_The unit must be saving her legs for last._ Blue reasoned, noticing that there was no indication that those limbs had started to be regenerated yet. Blue looked carefully at Guyver 5, trying to determine how long it would take for the unit to regenerate the rest of her torso. Her best estimate was 32 minutes.

_I hope my legs have regenerated enough by then,_ Blue thought, _So I can teleport us home._

Blue remained near to her friend, floating around, as she regenerated. During the time Guyver 5 was regenerating, Blue thought about the task that Guyver 1 had requested her help with.

_It probably is a shot in the dark on my part. Even if Chronos do have spies within Taron, they wouldn't leave data on them in the computer system. Or, if they did, it would be well hidden. I'll have to buy myself a laptop computer that I can use to read all the data we manage to retrieve._

Blue then realised that she had the bulk of the feeling back in her legs. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, and carefully tested her weight on her legs. She was relieved to learn that, besides the slight numbness, there was nothing wrong with her legs. She then took another look at Guyver 5. She had fully regenerated her torso, and her arm was restored down to her wrist.

_Good, I should be able to get her home now._

Guyver Blue then crouched down, picked up the incomplete body of Guyver 5, and then teleported herself away from the Sahara. They reappeared in the lounge area a few seconds later. Blue instantly moved to the sofa, and put Guyver 5 on it. She then disengaged her armour, and turned around to head for the bathroom.

"Thanks, Sonnet. You were a good challenge."

Sonnet turned back to Guyver 5.

"I thought you were unable to talk?"

"Not exactly. I was concentrating on remaining conscious, because I didn't want the self-defence mode kicking in, in case you tried to move me. Now that you have, I can sleep while I also regenerate."

"You're tired?"

"Yes. I wish I had your power supply, it must prove useful."

"Sometimes. Anyway, I'll have to head to work soon, so I'm going in the shower."

"OK. I'll see you when you get back."

"Right."

Guyver 5 then relaxed. Its host closed her eyes, and let herself fall to sleep. Sonnet, meanwhile, had gone into the bathroom. She set the shower running, and waited for a few minutes while the water warmed up. During that time, she took a look at the condition her clothes were now in. Since Guyver Blue had had her legs and part of her torso blown off, her t-shirt now had a hole around the stomach area, and some of the material in her jeans was also missing. In all cases though, the skin beneath the gaps was undamaged.

_I wonder how many more training sessions these will be good for now?_ She thought.

She removed her trainers, which hadn't taken any damage at all, and placed them next to her washing basket, she then removed her t-shirt, folded it carefully, and placed it on the lid of the basket. Then she took off her jeans, but as she started to fold them, she wondered:

_Should I dispose of these? They won't be able to take much more of a beating._

_No, actually, I'll keep them. They might as well be used as much as possible before being disposed of._

Finally, Sonnet removed her underwear and entered the shower. She spent a couple of minutes allowing the warm water to soak her hair and skin, before starting to clean herself of the sweat and sand she had gathered from the training duel. Almost 15 minutes later she turned off the shower. A couple of minutes after that, she got out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the airing cupboard and dried herself off. She moved from the bathroom to her bedroom, retrieved her grey suit, as well as a clean blouse and underwear from her wardrobe and drawers, and dressed herself. She went into the lounge to check on Mizuki, and write her a note, before realising that she had to return to the bathroom to retrieve the ties for her hair on her way out. She then placed the note on her coffee table where Mizuki would see it, along with another item, before leaving her apartment and heading for the Chronos Japan building.

When she arrived, she signed into the building, as usual, and went to her office. The first thing she did was check her email, which contained a confirmation that the information she had sent the day before, her home address, had been received and entered into the Chronos employee database. Her next new message was from Dr Balcus, stating that a zoanoid transformation fluid was ready for her design, and would be tested during the afternoon of the following day.

_That'll be the time for the others then._ She thought.

Her final message contained her tasks for the day, which included coming up with a second zoanoid design, should it be needed.

_Doesn't seem like anyone has spotted my 'design flaw' yet._

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Guyver 5 had been sleeping for quite a while after Sonnet left for the Chronos Building. The time was now about 10:34, and Guyver 5's host was waking up. The eyes of the armour changed from black to pink, and steam was vented via the mouth vents. Mizuki then tested her condition. After a few minutes, she determined that she could feel every limb fully, and had completely regenerated from the injuries sustained during the duel earlier.

Mizuki then decided she would have a bath and change her clothes, before making herself a late breakfast. She got up from the sofa, went into the bathroom and prepared herself a bath. She then shut down her armour and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

_These pyjamas will definitely need to be thrown out._ Mizuki thought as she stood in front of the mirror. Like Sonnet's had, her clothes had taken damage from the duel and were no longer in any condition to be worn. As the bath filled up, Mizuki checked the water temperature before removing the tattered remains of the pyjamas and climbing in.

Twenty minutes later, she climbed back out of the bath, grabbed another towel from the airing cupboard, dried herself, and then went into her bedroom to get dressed. She dressed herself in the back t-shirt and green skirt she had worn the previous day. She then returned to the lounge, and sat down on the sofa.

_I wonder what can I do today, since Ran will be at work, and Mutaru will probably be working at his warehouse job?_

She then spotted Sonnet's note. She got up from the table and read it.

_OK, I'll help Sonnet out there if I can. She has written 'Don't worry if you can't find something suitable, I'll look myself some other time if that happens.' So if I don't have any luck, she won't mind._

Mizuki's stomach then rumbled, which reminded her that she hadn't eaten. So she put the two items into a pocket in her skirt, and went into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.

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AN: I'd like to quickly thank Refugee at this point. The idea of Sonnet keeping a journal was something he suggested to me a while ago, when I had writer's block for this story. I initially rejected the idea, because I couldn't see a use for it. I even gave him the same reason Sonnet mentioned to Ran and Kyriu, the perfect memory one. Now, however, I've found a use for that idea, so I'm implementing it in my story.

Thank you for the suggestion Refugee.


	30. Plan Execution

Disclaimer: Haven't done this for a while, so here it is again:

I don't own any of the characters in this fic; they belong to their respective creators. I'm simply borrowing them for the story.

Chapter 30: Plan Execution

After having something to eat, and clearing up, Mizuki decided to see it Mutaru was home. Sonnet had mentioned that his job was only part time, so it was possible he wasn't working today.

_He would probably have a better idea of what Sonnet would want anyway._ She thought as she left the apartment, tying her hair back as she walked towards Ran's. Two minutes later, she was outside the apartment. She then knocked on the door, and waited. After a minute or two, the door was opened and, as Mizuki had hoped, Mutaru was home.

"Hey, Mizuki," He greeted, opening the door fully, "Something wrong?"

"Not really," She responded, entering the apartment, "But I would like your help with something."

"If I can."

Mizuki took Sonnet's note out of her skirt pocket, and handed it to Mutaru.

"What's this?" He asked, before starting to read it.

"Mizuki,

Remember our little talk about helping Guyvers 1 & 3? I realised during the night that I'll need a computer, preferably a laptop, for 'work' soon.

If you have the time today, could you try and buy one for me? I'll leave you the card to one of my accounts, so you can get any money you will need. The PIN is 4771.

Don't worry if you can't find something suitable, I'll look myself some other time if that happens.

Regards,

Sonnet Baji."

"Now, I'm not too sure here," Mizuki started after Mutaru had finished reading, "But I think, you have to fill out quite a few forms, and an invoice, when you buy a computer?"

"Yeah, you do. I remember Uncle commenting that the paperwork got on his nerves."

Mizuki looked a little concerned.

"What kind of paperwork?"

"Details of the owner, insurance, if you decide to buy any, bank account details, if you pay by instalments…"

"OK, OK. I get the picture," Mizuki stated, "I'm not going to be of any help to Sonnet then. She'll have to look for herself."

"Why won't you…?"

"Chronos is probably looking for me. If I sign a few forms, they'll know where I am. I can't risk that. I can hide in the crowds, and not be noticed because I changed my appearance slightly. So any photos they have of me will be inaccurate."

"I see what you mean. Don't worry though, she'll understand."

"Yeah, you're right. Pretty much leaves me with nothing to do all day though."

The lounge was silent for a few minutes before Mutaru said:

"There is something we can do," He said, "If you're interested?"

"That depends on what it is."

"One-on-one training session."

Mizuki smiled at the suggestion.

"Are you sure? I blew Sonnet in two earlier this morning."

"Ouch. What with?"

"A pressure cannon shot."

"Must have been pretty powerful."

"It was. Truthfully, I didn't know it was possible to generate a blast that powerful, without using the gigantic armour."

"Maybe your unit is stronger than the others?"

"Possibly. I'll ask Sonnet tonight, see what she thinks. Her unit is hardly the same as yours."

Mutaru went quiet again. After a few minutes, Mizuki asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about the information Sonnet gave us on Guyver units."

"What information?"

"Hold on a minute."

Mutaru went into his room, and retrieved a creased piece of paper. He then returned to the lounge, and handed it to Mizuki. Mizuki sat down on the sofa before reading the Guyver printout that Sonnet had given to him and his sister almost a week ago.

"Interesting." Mizuki commented, handing it back. Mutaru then tore up the paper and threw it into the bin by the desk, before sitting down on the chair by the balcony doors.

"Sonnet told me to dispose of that after I had read it," He explained, seeing a puzzled look on Mizuki's face, "In case Chronos got hold of it. I forgot to."

"OK. The bit about the Creators is interesting."

"The Guyver armour being something they tested on their young creation, which went out of control?"

"Yeah. I wonder how many units they left on Earth? Chronos originally thought that there were only three. But that was obviously wrong."

"Maybe there are more, somewhere," Mutaru said, "I've actually thought about that quite a bit, since I became a Guyver."

"Had any interesting thoughts?"

"A couple. One of which was: What is the Creators developed different types of units? The ones that Chronos originally found could have been one kind, and then the later ones, especially Sonnet's, could have been a more advanced type."

"It's an interesting possibility. Sonnet's armour definitely has features the others don't."

"So does yours."

"The teleportation?" Mutaru nodded, "Good point."

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Sonnet, meanwhile, had been trying to come up with another design for a zoanoid. On her desk, she had three sketches, and was working on a fourth. As the same time, she was also considering her plan.

_I hope this works tomorrow. I don't want them to be walking into a trap._

Sonnet continued working on her designs for another couple of hours, before deciding to take a lunch break. She saved her computer work, and locked her office door as she left. On her way to the canteen, she passed several Chronos guards and a few scientists. On her arrival in the canteen, she decided that she would buy herself some water, mainly to drink, but also to avoid suspicion. If she regularly came to the canteen and never bought anything, it might get someone curious about her.

_Best to avoid that. _ She thought, as she took a bottle of water from the canteen fridge and went to the till. _I guess Mizuki isn't the only one with an analytical mind._

After paying for her drink, she went to a table near a window, like she had done every day she had come to the canteen, and sat at the table looking out of the window. About 20 minutes later, she had finished her water, and decided to return to her office. Once there, she carried on working with her designs.

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Mizuki and Mutaru had been talking about various things the Creators may have done, relating to Guyver units for most of the afternoon, which meant they hadn't tried a one-on-one duel. It was getting close to 16.30, a fact which Mutaru noticed.

"Hey, have you noticed the time?"

Mizuki then glanced at the clock near the computer.

"I hadn't, actually. I wonder if Ran will be home soon?"

"Probably, she usually finishes around this time."

Mizuki stood up, causing Mutaru to do the same.

"I'm gonna head back, anyway. I'll have to give Sonnet the bad news."

"OK. Nice talking to you Mizuki."

She smiled, "Likewise."

Mutaru then opened the door to let her out. Once in the corridor, Mizuki wondered how the day could have gone so fast.

_I never noticed how much time had passed while we were talking._

She then went back to her temporary home. After she had gone inside, she sat down on the sofa, and decided to check in with her boyfriend.

[Guyver 1.]

There was a brief delay.

[Hello, Guyver 5. How are you?]

[I'm OK, thank you. I wanted to know how you all were, actually. Especially my brother.]

[We're all OK, although Tetsuro is concerned about you, as I am. We are still a little on edge, since we had to relocate. But we seem to be doing fine in the Zeus Thunderbolt base.]

[That's good. Blue is a great person, once you get to know her. I'm enjoying living here, even though it's only temporary.]

[I'm glad you're ok,] Mizuki heard a mental laugh in her head, [I don't have to worry about protecting you as much now, do I?]

[I guess not. But I still wouldn't complain if you did.]

[How's your skill with the armour doing?]

[I think I'm improving. Using the martial arts, and sports training I did a few years back probably helped.]

[Have you tried one-on-one combat?]

[Against another Guyver? Yes. I blasted Blue in half with a strong gravity ball early this morning.]

[Did she do anything like that to you?]

[She vaporised most of my right side with a mega-smasher beam just after that. But I regenerated easily enough.]

[Good. You'll have to fight Guyver 3 or myself sometime. I'm curious as to how well you can fight now, after what happened when we fought together recently.]

Mizuki subconsciously put a hand on her forehead, remembering that the Guyver unit had regenerated her entire body, after that disastrous battle with the Enzyme II's.

[By the way. Blue knows why we were attacked near Mt Narisawa that day.]

[Oh?]

[Yeah. Apparently we went too close to the security perimeter of the Production Facility/Library there.]

Guyver 1 didn't reply for a minute.

[I should have realised that. It's obvious now I think about it, based on what Guyver 3 discovered.]

[Don't blame yourself. Anyway, I've gotta go. Blue will be home soon, and I'd like to talk to her about a few things.]

[OK. Talk to you soon.]

[Bye.]

Mizuki then ended the conversation. She then noticed, to her surprise, that Sonnet was crouched in front of her, staring directly into her face.

"Interesting conversation?" Sonnet enquired, standing up.

"Yeah. I was just chatting with Sho. How long were you there?"

"About five minutes. You looked completely out of it when I came home: you didn't react to anything I did, so I presumed you were talking with someone."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I need you to speak with Ran and Mutaru later though."

"Anything to do with your plan?"

Sonnet nodded.

"My plan can be carried out tomorrow afternoon, at 14.20. That's when the testing is being done."

"Right. We won't arrive at that exact time then, otherwise it might look a bit suspicious."

"Understood. You know where to find the lab?"

"No. But I can sense you through the unit, so I'll find it that way."

"Good. Are you hungry?"

"A little, why?"

"I was thinking about trying to cook again. If you don't mind supervising?"

"Not at all. But I wouldn't really call it 'supervising'. More like advising."

"Down to individual opinion, I suppose."

Sonnet turned towards the kitchen.

"Do you have any requests?" She asked her guest.

"Not really. Just don't try to make anything complicated."

Sonnet thought for a minute, about what she could make that wouldn't be complicated, and considered what she had to cook with. She could only come up with one thing; based on the few things she had seen Ran cooking.

"What about Tori no kara-age?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Both women then went into the kitchen. Sonnet started to get the ingredients needed for the dish, and Mizuki got a pan for the oil, a small ovenproof dish, and a separate dish to mix the flour and cornflower out of the cupboards.

"How do you know how to make Tori no kara-age?" She asked Sonnet.

"I memorised a few cookery books a couple of years back, after I left Taron. I thought I could learn. But I never seemed to need to, or have the time to, so I just forgot about it."

She then glanced around the kitchen.

"What?" Mizuki asked her.

"I don't think I have any garlic."

"Want me to go for some?"

"No. I might be able to get some from Ran. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Sonnet left her apartment and went to Ran's. She gave Ran the details about the testing that she had given Mizuki, and then asked if she could borrow some garlic. Ran was curious as to why, but agreed; on the condition that Sonnet made the dish for her sometime. She then returned to her apartment. When she entered the kitchen, she saw Mizuki reading through her journal. When she noticed Sonnet was in the room, she quickly tried to hide what she was doing.

"I don't mind you reading that, Mizuki," She said, her eyes flashing for a split second, "But ask next time."

"OK. Sorry."

For the next 40 minutes or so, Sonnet worked on cooking the Tori no kara-age, with Mizuki adding the occasional suggestion or comment. Once it was done, Mizuki put it onto a plate, and slowly ate Sonnet's cooking. Sonnet watched her like a hawk the whole time, not even blinking.

"What do you think?" She asked, after Mizuki had finished.

"Very good. You sure you've never made this before?"

Sonnet looked relieved.

"Thank you, and yes."

Mizuki spent the next few minutes washing the things Sonnet had used while cooking, while Sonnet dried them.

They then went back into the lounge. As she sat down, Mizuki remembered Sonnet's request. She took Sonnet's account card out of the pocket of her skirt, and waited for Sonnet to look at her. Once she did, Mizuki tossed the card at her. Sonnet easily caught it.

"I wasn't able to go looking for a laptop for you. Sorry."

"It's no big deal. Mind if I ask why though?"

"I was being paranoid. Mutaru told me that some paperwork is involved with buying a computer, and I didn't really think I could fill that in. Because I wouldn't be surprised if Chronos could, somehow, find that information. They would then know I'm living nearby, and that could put you, Ran and Mutaru in danger."

"That is somewhat paranoid, but I agree with your reasoning. No problem though. I'll go looking during one of my lunch breaks."

"How good are you with computers?"

"Not bad, I know the basics with office packages, CAD packages, and a little about encryption/decryption."

"Good thing. I was thinking that the data in the Production Facility computers would probably be encrypted."

"How good are you with computers?" Sonnet fired the question back.

"Not very. I've never needed to use them, so I didn't bother learning how."

"I think, tomorrow, I'm going to buy a book or something," Mizuki said, "There isn't much to do here, when I'm not training. That's why I was reading your journal. You managed to write a lot in the space of one night, didn't you?"

"It took less then three hours." Sonnet stated.

"Can you write very quickly as well?"

"Yes."

Mizuki went into the kitchen to retrieve Sonnet's journal. She quickly flipped through all of the written entries before closing the book, and offering it to Sonnet.

"Could you put it back in place please?"

"Sure, no problem."

Mizuki checked that the curtains in the lounge were closed before moving to the centre, activating her unit, and replacing the journal in its hiding place. As she disengaged her unit, she asked:

"What time is it?"

Sonnet glanced at her watch.

"18:45, why do you ask?"

"I was wondering how much time I have to kill."

"Doing what?"

"Anything. Like I said: it's a little boring here when I'm not training."

"Since you didn't want to risk exposure by looking for a laptop for me, I assume you must have done something else to occupy the time today?"

"Yeah. I had a discussion with Mutaru about the Creators and the Guyver Units, among other things, that took up most of the afternoon."

"Really? Did either of you have any interesting thoughts about them?"

"Yes, and yes," Mizuki sat down in one of the chairs, and waited for Sonnet to do the same, "For example, Mutaru believes that the Creators may have made different types of units."

For the next two and a half hours, Mizuki recounted the discussion she had had with Mutaru about the Guyver. Sonnet also added a few ideas of her own. After the two women had finished their discussion, Mizuki realised that she was feeling tired, and went into the bathroom to get herself ready for bed. After she had finished brushing her teeth, and had washed her face, she noticed that the remains of the red pyjamas from the morning duel were still on the floor. Realising that she had forgotten to dispose of them, she picked them up, and took them to the bin that Sonnet had placed in the kitchen, before going to her bedroom. On the way back, she saw Sonnet leaning on the balcony. Sonnet had changed out of her work suit, and was wearing her jeans and t-shirt training clothes. Mizuki opened the door, and walked out to stand next to her.

"Don't you own anything else?" She jokingly asked Sonnet, referring to her clothes.

"Sure," came the reply, "But I have several pairs of blue jeans, and several white t-shirts like this, so you'll see me wearing these a lot."

"Oh, OK. Sorry."

Sonnet turned around, and leaned her back against the balcony railing.

"No big deal. Oh, I should tell you that I will be hunting again tonight."

"Again?" Mizuki enquired, "Do you enjoy it?"

"After a fashion. But it's a good way for me to test my cyborg capabilities, speed, strength, and the like."

"Test?" Mizuki echoed, "Are you improving those capabilities somehow?"

"Not really, I can't upgrade them by myself, I would have to find someone who knows a lot about cyborgs to be able to improve my capabilities. And since I killed Dr Melicus, that reduces the number of people who can perform any upgrades."

"Do you have to refer to improvements as 'upgrades'? It makes you sound like a machine."

Sonnet's head snapped round to face Mizuki, and her eyes glowed bright blue.

"I AM a machine," she said, angrily, "My body is less than 40% organic remember. I am at least 60% machine, I have mechanical limbs, and a sophisticated computer implanted in my brain. Not to mention that I have binocular eyes."

Mizuki had moved away at the anger in Sonnet's voice.

_What got into her?_ She wondered.

Sonnet's eyes suddenly lost their glow, and faded back to their normal colour. Sonnet quickly turned around, away from Mizuki, and dropped to her knees on the balcony. She then lowered her head so, from where Mizuki was standing, she appeared to be staring at her knees. Cautiously, Mizuki approached Sonnet again.

"Sonnet?" She said, crouching down next to her, "Are you OK?"

Mizuki looked into her friends' face, only to see that her eyes were out of focus. She waved her hand in front of Sonnet's eyes, trying to get a reaction from her. Nothing happened, Sonnet simply continued staring at her knees. Mizuki started to feel a bit worried, and quickly left the balcony. She ran into her room, grabbed her door key, and headed for the lounge.

_I need to speak with Ran, Mutaru or Kyriu,_ she thought, _They've known Sonnet longer than I have, they might know what's wrong with her._

As she entered the lounge, however, she saw the front door was blocked.

"Mizuki, wait." Sonnet said.

Mizuki slowed down, coming to a stop in front of Sonnet.

"Take a seat, and I'll try to explain what just happened."

Mizuki moved back into the lounge, and sat down on the sofa. Sonnet stayed standing, and started talking.

"I'm sorry if I scared you back there. That isn't the first time I've done that."

_It isn't?_ Mizuki thought, as Sonnet began pacing up and down the lounge, her long hair flowed out behind her when she turned and started walking in the opposite direction.

"It happens to me from time-to-time. The first time it happened was when I was explaining to Ran the abilities that my cyborg components 'provide'. I started thinking about how useful they could be, but at the same time, I was thinking about how they made me different, less human and I started to get angry about it. All of a sudden, I snapped, and hit the nearest thing to me, which happened to be one of the bars on Ran's balcony. I think Ran jumped back in shock, and I slid to the floor, like I did out there a few minutes ago. The next thing I remember after that, which must have been a few minutes later, is realising I was alone out on that balcony, Ran had retreated inside the apartment."

Mizuki opened her mouth to speak, but Sonnet carried on talking.

"Not that I blamed her really. Seeing a friend of yours suddenly snap like that. I don't want to consider what could have happened if I had hit Ran, and not the balcony railing."

"So what you're saying," Mizuki spoke up, "Is that you get depressed and angry sometimes, because you think the cyborg components in your body make you less human?"

Sonnet stopped pacing.

"I don't THINK they make me less human. I KNOW they make me less human."

"Have you ever spoken to Ran about this?"

"No. I didn't want to trouble her with my problems."

"Then you're a fool."

Sonnet then spun to face Mizuki.

"What?"

"Sonnet, part of having friends is trusting them with any problems you have. A true friend won't ignore you, or shove you to the sidelines. They will help you. And, as your friend, I want to give you some advice."

"Which is?"

"If you want to talk to me, about anything, don't be afraid to. I promise you I'll listen, and help in any way that I can. I suspect Ran, Mutaru and Kyriu would tell you the same thing."

Sonnet stood facing Mizuki for a minute or two, before collapsing into the chair behind her. Mizuki than continued:

"Also, I don't agree with you thinking that you are less human because of your implants. Yes, you are different, but you have feelings, thoughts, concerns and, above all, courage. Those things help to make you human. And, like I said, your friends wouldn't think any differently of you if you were not a cyborg. They would treat you the same way they do now."

The room was quiet for a few minutes, before Sonnet said:

"You're right. I have been a fool, for the past three years, regarding this. Thank you, Mizuki."

"You're welcome."

Sonnet smiled, slightly.

"I'm happy that you said that, and I know you mean it. If I still had my original eyes, I would probably be crying now."

Mizuki smiled back. Then she said:

"Well, I don't know about you. But I'm tired, so I'm gonna go to bed. Could you make sure I'm up before you leave for work?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Mizuki got up and went into her room. She pulled out another pair of pyjamas, blue this time, and changed into them. She folded up her other clothes, and placed them on top of the chest of drawers, next to her bed. She then climbed into bed. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

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Sonnet got up out of her chair as Mizuki left the room. Telekinetically, she opened the cover for the hiding place of her journal, and retrieved it. She then spent some time writing some more entries in it. Just after midnight, she put the book away and went into her bedroom to change into her Taron combat outfit. Once she had done that, she teleported herself to the roof of the Chronos Building. Acting quickly, she jumped off, and landed on the roof of another building nearby. She then started scanning for zoanoids.

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A few hours later, Blue Sonnet materialised back in her apartment. She moved to her bedroom, and changed her clothes back into her jeans and t-shirt combination. After that, she laid down on her bed. She didn't try to sleep, because she knew that she couldn't. To anyone who looked at her, Sonnet appeared to be simply staring at the ceiling, with her hands behind her head.

_By this time tomorrow,_ she thought, _Chronos will probably have a different view of me._

She then stayed like that, for most of the night. At around 07.00, she got up from her bed, and went into the bathroom; she then undressed and climbed into the shower. After showering for about 15 minutes, got out and dried herself, then she returned to her room, and dressed for work. Before she left, however, she did as Mizuki had requested of her the night before. She walked into her room and gently shook her awake, before leaving the apartment and heading for the Chronos Building. Upon her arrival, she signed in as usual and went to her office, planning to carry on with some more designs. She had a new email message from Dr Balcus, informing her to be present at the testing in the afternoon, which she read and deleted before retrieving her design sketches and starting to refine them.

Several hours later, she left her office to get herself a bottle of water, although this time she didn't sit in the canteen for an hour, she just bought her water and returned to her office, drinking it on the way.

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After Sonnet had woken her up, and left the apartment, Mizuki got up and had a shower, got herself dressed, and then went to make herself some breakfast. After she had eaten, she remembered Sonnet's notice about the testing, and carrying out her plan.

_I need to get some more clothes that can be used for training._ She thought, _since my last ones were vaporised. I'll call into town and see what I can buy._

She grabbed the remaining money that Sonnet had given her, as well as her apartment key, and went round to Ran's. Mizuki forgot that Ran would be working, until she knocked on the door.

_Damn, that was stupid._ She thought, _I should have remembered that Ran wouldn't be home. I guess it'll just be Mutaru and me in the attack._

Mizuki got a surprise, however, when Ran opened the door, and invited her in.

"You look surprised." Ran commented.

"I am," Mizuki replied, "I thought you'd be working today."

"Nope. Very rarely work on Wednesday's. There is only one class, and the local schoolteacher teaches that. I'm only called in if extra classes are booked."

"Oh good. I can still do what I had planned."

"Which is?"

"I was going to go into town and buy some clothes that can be used for training fights, as well as this afternoon. Feel like coming?"

"Sure. I should probably do that myself. You saw what happened to the others."

Mizuki frowned.

"No, I caused what happened to the others."

"A technicality. I think my brother is OK for his training clothes. Just let me get some money."

Ran went into her bedroom, put her shoes on and retrieved her purse from her bedside cabinet. While she was there, Mizuki took a look at the balcony, and noticed the bar that Sonnet had mentioned. More accurately, she noticed a hole in the bars.

_Guess that was Sonnet's first depression._

Mizuki turned back to the lounge when she saw Ran's reflection appear in the glass.

"You do that as well?" Ran asked.

"What?"

"Look for people's reflections when you're staring out of a window."

"Yeah, it's a discreet way to observe people. Who else does it?"

"Sonnet. Almost every time she visits, she stares out of that window, and always turns around as I enter the room. After about five visits, I realised she must have noticed my reflection each time."

"I don't know when I started doing that, to be honest," Mizuki said, "Ready?"

Ran gestured to the door, and the two women left the apartment. In the lift going down, Mizuki asked:"

"Where's Mutaru? I didn't see him in the apartment."

"I think he's out shopping. He was talking yesterday about buying a computer game, so he's probably in town somewhere."

"We might see him then."

"Possible. He knows he has to be at the apartment for 14.00."

"What, you told him to meet us there then?"

"Sure, the only way we can operate this afternoon is by using your unique ability."

"It's hardly unique. Blue also has that ability."

"Yeah, but she isn't available, is she?"

"Fair point."

The lift then arrived at the ground floor. The two friends got off, and left the building, heading for the town centre. The walk there was quiet. When they arrived, they both went into a few clothes shops and, after about an hour and a half, bought some clothes they could use for training and duelling. As they walked back to the apartment block, Mizuki commented:

"Is it me, or did you just pick tennis clothes?"

Ran smirked.

"No," She replied, "You're quite right. I know it's not very original, but they are cheap, and easy-to-find."

Mizuki quickly said:

"I wasn't thinking that. Actually, I think that's quite clever. And it saves money."

"Thanks."

The two of them then arrived back at the apartment. Ran unlocked the door and entered, followed by Mizuki. Mutaru was in the lounge, waiting for them.

"Hello ladies," He greeted them, as they entered, "I take it we'll be going soon?"

Ran looked at the clock on the computer screen, it read 14:15.

"Yeah, I think we can do this in about ten minutes. It'll give Mizuki and me time to get changed."

The three went to the other half of the apartment. Ran and Mutaru went to their bedrooms, and Mizuki to a bathroom. Approximately seven minutes later, they met up in the lounge area. Mutaru was wearing the tank top, jeans and trainers from their training in the Amazon. Mizuki was wearing a baggy green tank top, a pair of black shorts, and a pair of black slip-on pumps. Ran, as Mizuki observed earlier, was wearing clothes she could have used to play tennis in: a white t-shirt, white miniskirt and white pumps.

"Planning on playing tennis later, sis?" Mutaru asked, smirking.

Ran frowned at him, before smiling at Mizuki.

"Guess you were right with the tennis comment."

She then turned to her brother.

"Not quite, Mutaru. I bought a few of these t-shirts and skirts. They are cheap and easy-to-find and replace. Mizuki had the smart idea of buying some training clothes, which is where we've been most of the morning."

"OK. I'm ready when you two are."

Mizuki thought for a minute, before saying:

"There's will be a little complication with this. For safety reasons, I'm going to teleport us to Relics Point first, so we can bio-boost. Then I'll teleport us to the lab."

"You can locate it?" Mutaru asked.

"Not directly, but I can sense Sonnet through the armour, and she informed me she'd be in the lab by now."

"So we can teleport in that way. OK, makes sense."

Mizuki held out her hands, Ran and Mutaru each grabbed one, and Mizuki then teleported them to a store room in the remains of the Relics Point Base. Within 30 seconds, Mizuki had become Guyver 5, and Ran and Mutaru had become Guyvers Red and Psychic. Guyver 5 then placed her hands on their shoulders, teleporting them to the roof of the Chronos Building, and then to the Development Lab.

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Sonnet had entered the lab at exactly 14:20. She had moved near to the glass tubes in the lab, where two Chronos troopers, and a scientist, were waiting for the experiment to begin. Once she arrived, the two troopers each entered a tube, which were sealed, and filled with the liquid that would grant them their transformation ability. The troops had been in the tubes for about four or five minutes when there was a flash of silver light, and three Guyvers appeared in the lab.

Sonnet quickly ran and took cover behind a workstation as the Guyvers opened fire with a variety of weapons, including pressure cannons and sonic disruptors, destroying the growth tubes, computers and injuring the lab personnel.

_Nice strategy,_ she thought,_ but you might want to spread out a little. Once the guards arrive, you'll be easy targets._

A few seconds later, the doors opened, and four troopers entered the lab. Two had already partially transformed into their zoanoid forms, while the other two were still human. The guards consisted of an Enzyme II, two Ramotith, and a Vamore. Guyver 5 was the first to react to the new arrivals, and charged at the Vamore, extending her sonic swords. As she approached, she suddenly stopped, did a flip to her right side, changing her position. As she landed, she fired a couple of beams from the head laser, which hit the Vamore in the legs. She then ran up to the side of the creature and buried a sonic sword in its side, causing it to howl in pain. Finally, she looked up to its head, and fired her sonic disruptor until it shattered into a bloody mess. The remains fell onto the floor, and began to dissolve, leaving Guyver 5 free to target another zoanoid.

At the same time, Guyvers Red and Psychic both faced the Enzyme II, realising that neither of them could destroy it alone. The two of them moved apart, attempting to attack it from different angles. Red fired the sonic disruptor, while Psychic used the pressure cannon. The weapons damaged the zoanoid, but only for a few seconds. The Enzyme II then made use of the claw tendrils on its back, and swiped at the two Guyvers. The first few attempts missed them, but the creature managed to impale Psychic Guyver as he landed from jumping over a previous swipe. Red, now annoyed because her brother was hurt, fired the head laser and burned the tendrils from the creatures back. Psychic then fell to the floor, holding his stomach. Red then realised that she could be in trouble, when a powerful pressure cannon blast hit the Enzyme II from behind, causing its stomach to explode. Guyver 5 then opened up her chest plates, and began charging her mega-smasher. She opened fire as soon as the weapon was charged, and vaporised the zoanoid, along with a good chunk of the lab.

Red used the opportunity to target the remaining Ramotith. She ran at it, activating her sonic swords when she was a few feet away, before slicing at its stomach. Surprisingly, the zoanoid was unable to avoid the attack, and fell in two pieces to the floor. Guyver 5 and Guyver Red then went to the injured Psychic Guyver. Red pulled the tendril from his stomach, causing him to scream for a few seconds, before Guyver 5 teleported them back to Relics Point.

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Sonnet came out from behind the workstation she had hidden behind, to see the bulk of the lab in ruins. She ran out into the corridor and picked up the nearest phone. She contacted Security, who informed her that a clean-up crew was on the way, and that she should report to Dr Balcus. Sonnet then hung-up the phone, and went to Dr Balcus office. Once she was inside, Balcus spent over half an hour asking her questions about what she saw during the attack. Sonnet kept her answers as vague as she could.

After the debriefing, Sonnet was instructed to take the rest of the day of, so that the Chronos personnel could begin repairing/rebuilding the lab. The young woman left the office, and headed for the entrance to the building.

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Once Sonnet had left his office, Balcus contacted Imakarum Mirabilis on the Ark. Within a few minutes, the second-in-command of Chronos had responded and a two-way video call began.

"Lord Balcus, you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, my lord. A few things have happened recently, and I think you should be aware of them, and my suspicions about these events."

Balcus spent some time explaining recent events to Imakarum.

"So," Mirabilis said, "You think that Sonnet Baji has some connection to these problems?"

"Yes, my lord," Balcus said, "We know from our spies in Taron, that a woman called Sonnet Baji, with a very similar appearance, used to be a soldier for them, trained heavily in various martial arts. We also know that she turned rogue about two and a half years ago. Which is around the same time the Sonnet Baji stationed here began working for Chronos."

"If it is the same Sonnet Baji," Imakarum asked, "What do you believe she is doing working for Chronos?"

"Based on what I've told you, I think she is a spy for Zeus Thunderbolt. She is feeding information to Agito Makishima and his little army."

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AN: Tori no kara-age is deep-fried chicken nuggets. I decided that ramen (the only Japanese food I know) was being used a little too often, so I looked on the Internet for something that sounded easy to make. Tori no kara-age sounded easy to make, and also looked tasty to eat, so I used that instead of ramen.


	31. Convalescence & Departure

Chapter 31: Convalescence & Departure

The three Guyvers reappeared in Relics Point. Psychic Guyver fell to his knees, holding his stomach.

"I'd remove your hand, Psychic," Guyver 5 stated, "The injury will heal very quickly, without you trying to stop the bleeding."

"It feels like…my stomach…is go…going to fall out." Psychic managed to say, slowly, coughing at the same time.

"It won't," Guyver 5 reassured him, "It just hurts like hell for a while."

"You know that from experience?" Red asked.

"No. Guyver 1 told me when something similar happened to him."

"How long did his armour take to heal him?"

"Once he was able to summon it," Guyver 5 answered, "About ten minutes, physically. And instantly as far as his mind was concerned."

"He was injured with his armour off?" Red asked, astonished.

"Yes. He was unable to bio-boost at one point, and Aptom stabbed him. Almost immediately after the stabbing, he regained the ability to summon his armour. Once he became Guyver 1 again, he was able to fight instantly, but the injury was still visible."

"What happened…after that?" Psychic asked.

"You know some of it already," Guyver 5 stated, "I'll repeat it for Red's sake though."

Guyver 5 then told Red the story of what happened to Sho when he was trying to protect her from Aptom. During the storytelling, Psychic's injury healed up, and he got back to his feet.

"Similar injury." Red commented, looking at her brother.

"I suppose so, but his must have hurt a lot more," Psychic replied, "I admire his strength, to be able to continue trying to bio-boost when critically injured like that."

_One of the things I love about him._ Guyver 5 thought.

[Are you all OK?] Guyver 5 suddenly heard in her head. A few seconds later, Guyver Blue appeared in the room.

"I think we'll be OK, Blue." Red stated.

"Good. Sorry I couldn't help out, but that would blow my cover."

"No worries," Psychic said, "We weren't badly injured, although my clothes will need replacing."

"Ready to go home then?" Blue asked.

She saw three nods, so the Guyvers formed a circle, and Blue teleported them to her apartment. Once there, all Guyvers disengaged their armours, and Ran and Mutaru left for their own apartment, while Mizuki and Sonnet settled down in the lounge. More accurately, Sonnet sat down on the sofa, while Mizuki went for a shower. Approximately 20 minutes later, Mizuki entered the lounge, and took a seat on one of the chairs. Sonnet noticed that she had a sad look on her face.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I've just heard from Sho. He's requesting that I move back, and join him and Guyver 3 at the base."

"So you're going to be leaving?"

"Afraid so. But, if it's OK with you, I'd like to visit from time to time?"

Sonnet's face changed from a look of concern, to a huge smile.

"You didn't even have to ask. I'd love for you to visit. Just try and let me know in advance, don't appear out of the blue."

"Fair enough," Mizuki smiled back, "Thank you."

Sonnet sat back on the sofa. She briefly glanced at the area where her journal was hidden, and considered working on it. She forgot about it when Mizuki spoke again.

"Also, Sho asked me to relay a message."

"What?"

"It's a little cryptic: 'could you get all the Guyvers to meet up at the birthplace of the novices?'"

Sonnet repeated that mentally for a few seconds, before informing Mizuki that:

"It's not cryptic. He wants us all to meet in the processing lab in Relics Point."

"I wonder why?"

"So do I. I'll go and inform Mutaru and Ran. Could you tell Sho that we'll meet him there tonight, at about 21:00?"

"No problem."

While Sonnet went to give Ran the bad news, Mizuki went into her room, took a bag she had bought from under her bed, and put most of her clothes and shoes into it. She kept out a pair of pyjamas, her toothbrush, washcloth, and the clothes she would wear when she rejoined Sho and Agito. She then placed the bag onto the chair that was in the corner of the room, before returning to the lounge. When she returned, Sonnet was closing the door to the apartment.

"What did they say?" Sonnet asked.

"I haven't sent the message yet. Hold on a minute."

Sonnet watched Mizuki's eyes go out of focus, indicating a telepathic conversation. A couple of minutes later, Mizuki turned to look at Sonnet again.

"That's fine. They'll meet us there tomorrow night. Also, Agito said he had some information for you that you might find of interest."

"Guess I'll find out tonight."

"You're not curious?"

"Of course, but I can't do anything about it now."

"What did Ran say?" Mizuki asked, changing the subject.

"She, and Mutaru will be sorry to see you leave. As will Kyriu, even though he hardly knows you."

"I'll visit though."

"I told them that. Actually, before you leave, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."

"Who?"

"A fellow cyborg. My predecessor, in fact. His 'designation' from Taron was 'RX-606, but we call him 'Bird'."

"Why is that?"

"He likes heights and high views. After I became a Guyver he became interested in Chronos, as well as Taron. He seems to be looking out for me as much as he can."

"He cares about you then?"

"I guess so. I've wondered a few times if he cares as a friend, or something else?"

"Maybe he loves you." Mizuki said, half-joking.

Sonnet quickly turned away, before Mizuki saw the slight blush form on her face.

"What?" Mizuki asked, "Did I strike close to home?"

Sonnet turned back.

"I'm not sure. When I've spoken to him sometimes, I've had the impression that he might have more than a friendly interest in me, but I've never had the courage to ask him."

"And you think you're not human because of your body makeup?" Mizuki stated, "What you just said proves my point. You were afraid to dig into the matter, which helps to make you human."

Mizuki looked at the clock, it read 15:02.

"Should we go now?" She asked.

"Sure. Just let me change."

Mizuki then noticed that Sonnet was still wearing her work clothes.

"Right OK."

Sonnet headed to her room.

"By the way," Mizuki said before Sonnet was out of earshot, "Why don't we call into town first? You can get a laptop, and I can get myself a watch, since my last one was destroyed when I 'died' at Mt Narisawa."

"Fine with me," Sonnet replied, "It might take a while though."

"I don't mind waiting."

Sonnet then went into her room, and changed into the t-shirt, jeans and trainers combination that Mizuki had joked about, taking her wallet from the inside pocket of the suit jacket. She also pulled the ties from her hair, letting it hang free from the ponytail she had kept it in during the morning and the lab attack, before returning to the lounge.

"Ready?" She asked Mizuki.

"When you are."

The two women then left the apartment, and headed for the town centre. They decided to look for a watch first. After looking in a few shops, Mizuki bought a watch she liked, using the last of the money that Sonnet had given her. She then went with Sonnet as they looked through a few computer shops. It took Sonnet just less than an hour to find a laptop that met the requirements she wanted, and another half an hour to fill out some paperwork, and buy some software she thought she would need. Once that was done, they left the shop with the laptop, still boxed, and returned to Sonnet's apartment. Once they entered, Sonnet placed the laptop box behind the sofa, so that no one could see it.

"I'll check the laptop and software when we get back. For now, I think we'll be OK to visit Bird."

"How long will it take to get there?" Mizuki asked.

"Not long. Although he likes to move around, making it harder for Taron to keep an eye on him, he is currently staying in his favourite place. And that apartment is one I've visited before, so I can teleport us there."

_Convenient._ Mizuki thought.

"Ready?" Sonnet asked.

Mizuki held out her hands, palms facing upwards. Sonnet put her hands on Mizuki's forearms and then teleported them out of her apartment. The two young women then reappeared in a small alleyway, next to an apartment block. Sonnet went to the apartment buzzer, next to the front door, and pressed the button for the top floor. A few seconds later, she heard:

"Hello?"

"Bird, it's Sonnet. Can I come in?"

"Hey! Nice to hear your voice. Of course, come on up, I'll unlock the lift door."

Sonnet lead Mizuki into the apartment building, and into the lift at the back of the lobby, pressed the button for the top floor. On the way up, Mizuki wondered:

_What kind of person is he?_

It only took the lift about a minute to reach the top floor. As Sonnet opened the door and walked into the apartment, Mizuki followed and took a look around the room. The furniture included a large double bed, two small lounge chairs, and a coffee table. The small kitchen area was off to the right of the lift exit. Sitting on the bed, was a man she presumed to be Sonnet's friend. He stood up and held his arms out as Sonnet approached.

"Hello Sonnet. Nice to see you again."

"Likewise," Sonnet replied, walking up and hugging him, "Bird. This is Mizuki Segawa, a friend of mine."

He released Sonnet, and turned to look at her, allowing Mizuki to see him fully. Bird was a little taller than Sonnet, and looked quite strong physically. He was wearing blue jeans, a blue t-shirt with a blue denim jacket over the top, and white trainers. He had long brown hair with a fringe that covered one eye, so Mizuki could only see one of them. His visible eye was blue, like Sonnet's.

"Nice to meet you." Mizuki said, bowing slightly in his direction.

"Hello there," He said, nodding his head, "Sorry, but I'm not much for formality."

"That's alright. I don't usually have chance to be formal myself."

"Anyway, take a seat ladies." He said, gesturing at the lounge chairs. Mizuki and Sonnet each took a chair.

"So, why are you both here?" Bird asked.

"I wanted to visit a friend," Sonnet stated, "And introduce you to another one at the same time."

"Two for one, huh," Bird quipped, "Hold on a minute. Are you Sho Fukamachi's girlfriend?"

Mizuki was a little startled.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Sonnet sometimes gives me information that might be useful. She told me the identities of Guyver 1 and Guyver 3, and showed me the people who were close to them."

Sonnet smiled before saying:

"I might have to update that information now."

Bird looks curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Mizuki isn't just the girlfriend to one of the Guyvers. She is also one of the Guyvers: Guyver 5," She turned to Mizuki, "Want to take over?"

[With what?] Mizuki telepathically asked.

[Telling him about the other new Guyvers.]

[Oh, right. OK.]

"Also," Mizuki continued, "Ran and Mutaru have become Guyvers. They are known as Guyver Red, and Psychic Guyver respectively."

"Interesting. You have more help now then?"

"Yes. And we recently managed an attack on Chronos, destroying a Development Lab. Also, if all went well, they will now be suspecting that I'm not 100% loyal to Chronos, but they won't suspect I am one of the Guyvers."

"How exactly?" Bird asked.

"I've been giving the Guyvers information that has been acted upon. I've also been feeding information to Chronos that all Guyvers are working with Zeus Thunderbolt. Anything of average importance is usually destroyed not long after I learn about it, which I'm hoping will make Chronos start to think I'm a spy for Zeus Thunderbolt."

"Risky plan, Sonnet," Bird stated, "You know you're putting yourself and your friends at risk?"

"I think she knows," Mizuki replied, before Sonnet could answer, "We all know the risks involved."

"I hope so, because things could get real ugly if Chronos ever learn who you really are."

There was silence in the apartment for a few minutes, before Mizuki spoke again.

"Tell me something, Bird. I get the impression this apartment used to be something else."

"You're correct. It used to be used as a storage area, and was then abandoned for a while. But I thought it would make a great apartment, so I rented the place, and slowly converted it."

The next couple of hours were spent getting to know each other or, in Sonnet and Bird's case, catching up on things. After a while, Sonnet suggested they leave. Bird agreed, inviting them to visit again sometime. As the lift doors closed behind them, and the lift started to descend, Mizuki saw Sonnet tense up.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Sonnet turned to look at her, and her eyes were glowing.

"There are zoanoids near by."

Mizuki stopped the lift, before asking:

"How many?"

"I don't know. I can't identify individual zoanoid signatures without my armour. Go back to the apartment, transform, and be ready to come to my aid if necessary."

"What about you?"

Sonnet's eye glow faded before she answered:

"I'm going to carry on heading home. If the Chronos personnel try to stop me, I'll signal you. I then want you to appear, but notice me, instead of them."

"What for?"

"Pretend you recognise me from the Lab this morning. You 'realise' I'm a Chronos employee, and attack me."

Mizuki looked shocked.

"I can't do that!"

"Yes, you can. Just don't hit me too hard."

"What's the reason for this act?"

"Chronos probably doesn't trust me now. If they see a Guyver attacking me, they will be unsure if I'm still a spy for Zeus Thunderbolt. The zoanoids should, in theory, rush to my defence, allowing you to destroy them anyway."

"Won't Chronos become suspicious that you weren't harmed?"

"Possibly. Balcus has recording devices hidden all over Tokyo. He might see me being able to move faster than a person should be able to, which means I'll have to come up with a cover explanation. But I'll worry about that later. Now go."

"All right. I'm not happy with the idea, but I'll play along."

Mizuki then teleported herself out of the lift. Sonnet set it moving again, and continued to the ground floor.

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In his apartment, Bird suddenly had a surprise when a silver light flashed in the room. As it faded, he saw Mizuki standing there.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Zoanoids nearby."

"Oh great."

"Don't worry, I'll handle them. Sonnet wanted to make it appear that she was alone, so I came back here. Sorry for just appearing like that."

"No problem."

"Thanks. GUYVER!"

Mizuki's silver armour wrapped around her and sealed itself airtight. Guyver 5 vented the steam through her mouth vents, before teleporting herself to the roof of the building, so she could observe what was happening. Unfortunately, the building she was standing on was too far away from the zoanoids, which she could now sense with her armour. Guyver 5 looked at the zoanoids, then at a building nearer to their location, before teleporting herself that short distance so she could observe things better.

There were eight zoanoids nearby. Using her eyes, she could see that most of them were the basic types that were no threat to her, however one could have been a hyper-zoanoid. This Chronos trooper hadn't transformed into his zoanoid form, so Guyver 5 had no way of knowing what he was. From the looks of things, the zoanoids were rounding up homeless people for processing. While she was wondering this, she saw Sonnet nearby, walking towards the zoanoids, seemingly oblivious to them.

_Good acting. You might have fooled me if I didn't know you better._ Guyver 5 thought.

The untransformed trooper suddenly noticed her, and headed in her direction.

[Showtime.] She heard Sonnet telepathically say.

Guyver 5 observed the events from up on the rooftop, as best she could. Sonnet was approached by the trooper, who appeared to be telling her to leave. Sonnet reacted by reaching into her jeans pocket, and pulled something out of her wallet. The trooper suddenly went quiet, and appeared to be a bit more respectful to her.

_Must have been her Chronos ID._ Guyver 5 thought.

The trooper then seemed to be explaining to Sonnet what was going on. Although Guyver 5 couldn't see Sonnet's face, she had a feeling that she was disgusted by what was going on. Guyver 5 then got herself into a position where she could attack a weaker type of zoanoid, one of the Gregole that she could see, within seconds of Sonnet's signal while, at the same time, making sure she was able to keep her friend in sight. After watching the trooper and Sonnet converse for a few more minutes, she suddenly heard:

[NOW!]

Acting on her friend's signal, Guyver 5 jumped from the rooftop, and positioned herself so she would land behind the Gregole she had targeted. She activated her sonic swords before she landed, and sliced the zoanoid in half as her feet hit the ground. Sensing another one approaching her from behind, she sheathed her swords and jumped, putting herself into a back flip at the same time. She landed behind the second zoanoid, a Vamore, and fired her head laser at its shoulder pods. The shots missed the right pod, but blew the left one into a bloody mess. She then re-activated a sonic sword, and charged at the Vamore, stabbing it through the brain and killing it.

_Time for the show._ She then thought.

Guyver 5 then turned to look at the, still, untransformed trooper. The trooper, in turn, looked back at her and began to transform. As she had suspected, the other zoanoid was a hyper class one: a Zerabubuse.

_OK, this changes the game a little._ She thought, looking past her new opponent.

"Damn you Guyver," the Zerabubuse said, "Why can't you leave us alone?"

"I'll leave you alone once you're all dead you…"

The Zerabubuse was puzzled as to why the Guyver had stopped, before it noticed that she was staring behind it, not at it. It glanced behind itself to see only Sonnet standing there. Guyver 5 used the zoanoids distraction to her advantage. She prepared a pressure cannon shot while firing a few beams from the head laser at the Zerabubuse, as the Zerabubuse turned back to her, she fired the pressure cannon, which caused a hole to appear in the creature's torso, roughly where a lung would be a human body. This damage also caused Sonnet's clothes to be stained in the creatures' blood. Guyver 5 then ran at the zoanoid and jumped up high before she got to it, she positioned herself in mid-air and landed right where she wanted to: on the shoulders of the Zerabubuse. As she landed on the Zerabubuse, she bent her legs and jumped off again, leaving the zoanoid to stumble from the impact of her landing on it. Again in the air, Guyver 5 did a flip and repositioned herself, landing behind Sonnet. Sonnet, keeping up her act, turned around in surprise. Just in time for her to feel a strong, armoured hand at her throat. Guyver 5 picked Sonnet up by her neck, and suspended her in the air.

"Why are…. You…?" Sonnet choked

"I saw you in the Chronos Lab this morning. You must work for them, so I'm going to make sure your employment ends, right now."

Meanwhile, the other five zoanoids had noticed the Guyver, and were approaching her. Guyver 5 dropped Sonnet back to the floor and turned to the bio-weapons. She saw another Vamore, three Ramotith and a second Gregole, idly noticing that Sonnet had fallen on her backside when she had been dropped.

_Chronos must be having a supply problem,_ Guyver 5 thought, _all the zoanoids are low level ones, no match for any Guyver._

Hoping Sonnet would use the next few minutes to sneak away, Guyver 5 turned to one of the zoanoids, the Vamore, and repeated the attack technique she had used on the first Gregole, resulting in it being sliced in two vertically. Next she targeted the Gregole, and charged at it, slicing its waistline with the sonic sword on her right arm, causing that one to break in two horizontally. Next, she used her gravity orb as a booster and jumped herself above the three approaching Ramotith. As she ascended, she fired a very accurate shot from the head laser at one, melting its brain in the process, and hit a second one with a sonic disruptor discharge as she approached the apex of her jump, which caused its head to shatter. For the last Ramotith, she let the natural gravity pull her back towards the ground, and she used her weight to crush the zoanoid into a bloody pulp by landing with her feet on its head. She then rolled off the remains of the creature, and back to her feet in one smooth motion.

Her final target was the Zerabubuse that she had injured while moving to 'attack' Sonnet. This zoanoid was still injured from the pressure cannon, but the damage sustained from the head laser had healed up.

_This will be more of a challenge,_ Guyver 5 thought, _I'm not sure how much longer I can last though. My stamina isn't exactly infinite._

Guyver 5 then decided to use her pressure cannon again. She activated the gravity orb, and flew above the creatures' head. Once she had gained some height, she fired three pressure cannon blasts in quick succession. One blew the left leg off the Zerabubuse, the second hit the shoulder, and blew the right arm off, and the final one missed the zoanoid, and impacted on the ground behind it, blowing out a large chunk of the already weathered road.

_Damn!_ She thought.

Guyver 5 then shut down the gravity orb, and landed a few feet away from the zoanoid. The Zerabubuse, realising that it was probably about to die, fired a few laser bursts from the emitters on its body. Guyver 5 was hit by two of the beams, one in her right thigh, and one hit her right hip.

_That's gonna hurt for a while._ She thought, feeling pain in her right side.

Guyver 5 then fired the sonic disruptor at the chest of the zoanoid. The high frequency of the weapon caused the internal organs of the creature to vibrate painfully, before shattering into pieces. With several vital organs destroyed, the zoanoid was defeated, and collapsed to the ground. A few seconds later, it began disintegrating. Guyver 5 checked the remains of the others, and found they were also disintegrating, noticing that Sonnet had, as she expected, slipped away during the fight. Guyver 5 then teleported herself away from the area, and back to Sonnet's apartment.

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Guyver 5 re-materialised in her bedroom in the apartment. She quickly checked her injuries from the laser beams, and realised they had almost fully healed. She waited for a while to check that they had fully healed, before shutting down her armour. She then went into the lounge, and found Sonnet sitting on the sofa, with the laptop on a tray. Mizuki also noticed that Sonnet had changed her clothes, since there was no blood on what she was wearing.

"Having fun?" She asked.

Sonnet looked up as she spoke, and smiled slightly.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you enjoyed that back there."

Mizuki smirked.

"What makes you think I didn't? Those zoanoids were no match for a Guyver."

Smiling back, Sonnet replied:

"I meant 'attacking' me, Mizuki. Oh, and it's been almost 40 minutes since I slipped away."

"Nah, there was no fun in that. Although you put up a good act, you almost had me fooled. And 40 minutes? It didn't feel like that long."

"Thanks. And I suspect it doesn't when you're the one fighting."

"So," Mizuki asked, gesturing to the laptop, "What are you doing?"

"I'm installing and checking all the software I bought earlier. A word processor, an anti-virus, and internet/email programs."

Mizuki sat down in one of the chairs.

"Any problems?"

"Nope, I don't think so. All software appears to be working as it should."

"Just a thought though," Mizuki said, "You mentioned that you wanted the computer so that you could, eventually, decrypt any information you get from the raid."

"What's your point?"

"Don't you have anything for encryption/decryption techniques?"

"Not yet. I wanted to get a basic computer first. I'll get encryption/decryption programs later."

"OK. I was just curious."

Mizuki then glanced at the clock over the sofa. It read 19:34.

"Damn!" She said.

"What?" Sonnet asked her.

"I just realised that I'll be leaving in about an hour an a half."

Sonnet glanced at the clock.

"I hadn't noticed the time. Where does it go?"

"Good question. I'm going to shower and change, before I leave then."

"OK, see you soon."

When Mizuki left the room, Sonnet closed down her laptop and placed it on the coffee table. She then took the tray back into the kitchen. Then, using her telekinesis, she removed the cover from her journal's hiding place, and lifted the laptop into it, before replacing the cover piece. She then sat down and thought about what the information Agito had for her could be. About seven minutes later, Mizuki walked back into the lounge, wearing her green skirt and black t-shirt, with a pair of black pumps. The two women then spent the time talking about various topics, until the clock read 20:50. At that point, Sonnet and Mizuki got up and went to Ran's apartment.

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Ran was surprised when there was a knock on the apartment door. She got up from the sofa, and went to open it. Sonnet and Mizuki were on the other side.

"Hi. Come on in." She said, opening the door.

Ran waited for them all to be sat down before asking:

"So why are you here?"

"We have an appointment, remember?"

Ran then looked sad.

"Oh. Is that the time already?"

She got up from her seat, and went out of the room for a minute. When she came back, Mutaru and Kyriu were with her. Mutaru was the first to speak:

"I didn't realise what time it was. Sorry you're leaving Mizuki. You're a really good fighter, not to mention a good talker."

Mizuki smiled.

"Thanks, Mutaru. Don't worry though, I'll be back to visit from time to time."

"Good to know," Kyriu spoke up, "These two have certainly been happy while you've been here."

He offered his hand to Mizuki.

"See you around, kid."

"Thank you, Mr Kyriu." Mizuki replied, while shaking his hand. She then turned to Ran.

"I'll certainly miss having you around," She said, "Although you've not been here long, I feel like you're almost a sister to me."

"Thanks Ran."

The next few minutes was spent with a few hugs between the friends, before Mutaru said:

"So, we have to be at Relic's Point in about three minutes?"

Everyone then separated. Ran led them all into the kitchen, while Kyriu sat down at the computer desk. In the kitchen, Mizuki summoned her armour, becoming Guyver 5. She then grabbed a hand each of Ran's and Mutaru's, teleporting them both to the roof. There, they summoned their own armours, so that the energy field wouldn't cause any damage. Finally, she teleported them to the processing lab in the remains of the Relic's Point base.

Not too surprising, Guyver Blue was already there, waiting for them.

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A few seconds after 21:00, Guyvers 1 & 3 appeared in the lab. Guyver 5 instantly ran to Guyver 1 and embraced him. Guyver 3, on the other hand stood quietly to the side. Once the young couple had separated, he spoke up:

"I'm glad you're all here. I'd like to discuss my plan for attacking the Zoanoid Production Facility on Mt. Narisawa."

The next half an hour was spent deciding on a date to carry out the attack/raid, as well as who would cover what parts of the facility. Guyver 3 had obtained a map of it, and explained it in detail. At the end of it, everyone had a specific area to concentrate on:

· Guyvers 1 and 5 would cover the control centre, damaging/destroying whatever they could,

· Guyvers Red and Psychic would destroy the Production Centres,

· Guyver Blue and himself would copy all the information in the Chronos computers there, and then destroy them.

· The general role of all of them was to destroy any Chronos equipment and 'products' while also carrying out their specific tasks.

Once everyone was satisfied with their set task, he asked to speak with Blue privately. Once the others had left the room, he moved to Guyver Blue and handed her a computer disk.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Information that you might find of interest. If the person mentioned in it is who I suspect him to be. If it is then my condolences, even if they are a bit late."

Sonnet was puzzled by Agito's statement, but didn't show it. Instead she thanked him, before returning to Guyvers Red and Psychic and teleporting them home. After they had all disengaged their armours, she left and returned to her own apartment. Realising the place would be quieter now; she sat down on the sofa, before retrieving her new laptop, placing the disk she had been given into the drive, and looking at the contents.

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AN: OK, I suck at writing goodbye scenes, so I don't mind criticism for the one above.


	32. Investigating The Past

Chapter 32: Investigating The Past

Sonnet slowly read through the files on the disk Agito had given her. One was an employment record of a man called Seiya Baji, including a little bit about the man's family. Seiya Baji had worked for a small electronics company, based in Los Angeles, for two and a half years, until his unfortunate death during an attempted burglary. What caught Sonnet's eye, however, was the mention of his family. He had been married to a British woman called Rachel Baji, and he had also had a daughter called Sonnet.

_Was this man my father?_ Sonnet wondered as she read the file. She did notice that the man had blue eyes, and was a small resemblance to her, in the photograph that was attached to the record.

A second file was the obituary of Seiya Baji, indicating the date and time of his death, as well as the cause. The third, and final, file was a police report of the attempted burglary at the electronics company. Sonnet quickly skimmed through the third file, and found herself confused by what she was reading, so she contacted Agito.

[Guyver 3?]

[Blue? Is something wrong?]

[I've just been reading this information you gave me. What did you think it was?]

[I thought it was information on your parents. The man does look a little like you, and he had a daughter with the same name.]

[I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, I have no memory of my past, beyond what little I told you. This man could have been my father, but if he was, I don't remember.]

[Sorry to hear that Blue.]

[Thank you anyway.]

[For the information?]

[And the condolences. You have me wondering though, maybe my parents are still alive and I just don't remember them.]

[Possible. I'll let you know if I find anything else.]

[OK.]

The communication was then broken. Sonnet removed the disk from her laptop, connected its modem to her phone socket, and loaded her Internet software. Once it was loaded she went to a search engine, and typed in the name of the company Seiya Baji had worked for. A few results came back from the search, and Sonnet started looking through them.

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"I'm glad you're back, Mizuki," Sho stated as they settled down in the base, "Although I trust Sonnet, I was still worried about you."

"We all were." Agito added, "Your brother especially."

"Where is he?" Mizuki asked.

"Tetsuro is sleeping now," Sho explained, "I didn't want to disturb him."

"That's fine. I'll see him tomorrow."

"Out of interest, Agito, what was on that disk you gave to Sonnet?" Sho asked.

"Information on a man who I believe to be her father." Agito replied.

"I don't think she remembers much her parents, Agito." Mizuki stated.

"No," Agito admitted, "She just told me as much. Worth trying though."

"I wonder if she would want to remember everything?" Sho said.

"What do you mean?" Agito asked.

"Some people could consider not knowing their past a good thing. It would give them the opportunity to start over."

"Have you ever wanted to do that, Sho?" Mizuki asked.

"Sometimes," He admitted, "I wonder if I'd be any happier if I hadn't found the Guyver, and become involved in this fight. My father might still be alive, since Chronos wouldn't have had any reason to bait me if I wasn't a threat to them."

"Although he could have be processed into a Chronos zoanoid when they took over. And he could have been killed by either myself or Sonnet." Agito pointed out.

"I suppose that's possible," Sho agreed, turning to Mizuki, "But then I doubt you and I would be anything more than friends. We might not even be that."

"That is a possibility. But since my brother was your best friend before you became a Guyver, you and I might still have become a couple."

"As interesting as this discussion is," Agito said, "I don't feel like talking about what might have been, there are too many variables and possibilities. Can we change the subject please?"

"So how was your stay with Sonnet?" Sho asked his girlfriend.

"Good fun actually. We had a few combat training sessions, had a few shopping trips, carried out an assault on Chronos Japan. And I was a test subject for her attempts at cooking."

"She cooks?" Sho asked, "I thought she couldn't eat?"

"Yes, and she can't. I can, however, and she was interested in learning. So, I agreed to help her learn, and be a guinea pig for her dishes."

"What did she cook?" Agito asked.

"The first thing she tried, and burnt, was an English breakfast: bacon, sausage and eggs."

"You didn't eat the burnt food, did you?"

Mizuki laughed.

"No, of course not. She was throwing it out when I got into the kitchen. The burning smell woke me up. I ate her second attempt, which tasted great."

"What else?"

"She also tried Tori no kara-age, which was very nice, especially for her first try."

"Interesting," Agito mused, "I didn't think she'd be interested in cooking, at all."

"Because she can't eat?" Mizuki asked.

"Yeah. Why learn to cook if you can't eat the food?"

"I suppose," Mizuki conceded, "Maybe she was a good cook during her childhood, and it's a subconscious memory in her mind?"

"That's possible, I suppose." Sho said.

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Sonnet's search through the Internet sites had been a waste of time. Nothing she read, or saw, looked familiar.

_This is pointless,_ She thought, _Without any memory of this part of my life, I don't know if what I'm reading has anything to do with me. I could just as easily be reading about the life of another person called Sonnet Baji and not know._

She shut down her laptop, and replaced it in its hiding place. It was now just after midnight, and she had nothing else to do. Going hunting was something she didn't feel like doing, and she had no way to contact Aptom, so trading information with him wasn't possible.

_I suppose I could hire a private investigator to look into what could be my past, and see what happens._ Sonnet thought.

She then looked at the clock, and realised that it was about 12:20 in LA.

I'm going to see if I can find a private investigator in LA to look into this for me.

She grabbed the disk containing the files Agito had given her, since she had a copy for herself on the laptop, and pictured the LA skyline, from what she remembered seeing in a Travel Agency window, back in Phoenix, and teleported herself there. Unfortunately, her use of a photograph to initiate the teleport resulted in her appearing in midair, about 20 floors high. Sonnet quickly reacted by summoning her armour, and activating her gravity orb. Once Guyver Blue had stabilised herself, she lowered herself to ground level in a small alleyway, and deactivated her armour. Sonnet left the alley, and looked around for a phone box, and a phone book. She walked though the LA streets for over an hour. She eventually found a phone box and a phone book, and turned to the business section. It took her about two minutes to find adverts for private investigators, and a few more to memorise the phone numbers and addresses for them. She went to a cash machine and accessed one of her accounts, one she rarely used, and selected to withdraw $300. She then pocketed the cash, and looked for a map of the city, hoping to find the agencies she had memorised.

She found the first two easily enough, but after talking with the people in them, she realised that they couldn't help her. The cost was more than she thought it was worth in one, and the second didn't handle past research cases. Her third call was an agency based in what used to be a prosperous hotel, called the Hyperion, but she eliminated that one too, since the focus there seemed to be supernatural cases. Her fourth call was at an agency in the San Fernando Valley, called "Rin's Detective Agency". Sonnet noticed that this agency, unlike the others, appeared to suit her needs, so she went in. Almost immediately, a young woman around her age entered the reception area. She was wearing a peach blouse, and a dark green skirt. She had her blond hair worn up, with a few braids added in at what appeared to be random points and her eyes were a brilliant green. She looked at Sonnet and smiled. She then spoke up in a very cheerful voice.

"Hello there. May I help you?"

Sonnet smiled back at the woman, before replying in English.

"I hope so. I was hoping to hire you to look into someone's past. Do you take that kind of case?"

"Yes. Take a seat, I'll be back in a minute."

Sonnet took a seat in front of the reception desk, and waited patiently. The young woman came back within a minute.

"OK. You want me to look into someone's past Miss…"

"Baji. But call me Sonnet."

"OK, Sonnet. My name's Alicia Rin."

Alicia held out her hand to Sonnet, who shook it. Alicia then continued.

"So, what's the name of the person who's past you want me to investigate."

"My past, actually. I have very few memories of my past, but I recently received some information about a man who may have been my father. This man lived and worked in LA at the time he died, yet the information seems to indicate that he could be my father."

"How so?"

"His last name was the same as mine, the image of him resembles me a little, and he supposedly had a daughter called Sonnet."

Alicia was quiet for a minute or two.

"I can understand why you think the man in question might be your father," She said "May I see the information you read?"

Sonnet pulled the disk from a pocket in her jeans and handed it to Alicia. The PI placed it into her computer, and after a minute, loaded the three files on it, and spent another few minutes looking at it. She glanced at Sonnet once or twice as well.

"Well," Alicia began, "I can see a bit of a resemblance between you and the man in this image."

She was then quiet for about 30 seconds.

"So you want me to find what I can on this man, and any family he may have had to see if he is your father?"

"Yes."

"Ok. I'll take this case. I charge $40 per hour, plus expenses."

Sonnet took the $300 from another pocket in her jeans.

"Will this do as a retainer?" She asked Alicia, as she handed her the money.

Alicia quickly counted the money, and nodded at Sonnet.

"This will be fine. I'll note any other costs, and give you a bill when you think either I've finished the task, or you decide to hire someone else."

"That will be fine. Thank you."

Sonnet got up, causing Alicia to do the same. Sonnet shook her hand again, and headed for the door.

"Hold on a second," Alicia called, "How do I contact you?"

Sonnet realised that she couldn't give this woman her phone number; she probably wouldn't want to call Japan anyway. She quickly decided how to answer that question, and turned to face the PI.

"I'll call in twice a week, to see what you have learned."

"OK. Goodbye, Sonnet."

"Goodbye, Alicia."

Sonnet then left the agency. She wandered around the Valley for a few more hours, before finding another alleyway to use to teleport herself back to her apartment.

As she appeared, she glanced at the clock and noticed that it was 05:22. She still had time on her hands before she was to go back to work. She suddenly felt another presence in the apartment; she spun round to face the other person, only to see Ran standing by her front door.

"Something wrong, Ran?" Sonnet asked.

"I'm not sure," Ran replied, "Uncle went out after we got back from Relic's Point. He said he would be back before midnight. But he is still out."

"Maybe he just lost track of time." Sonnet suggested.

Ran threw a sceptical look in Sonnet's direction, which Sonnet could easily see in the darkened room.

"You know how much he gets at Mutaru and me for being late. He wouldn't be late unless there was something very wrong. Where have you been anyway? I've been waiting here for almost two hours."

"That's not important now," Sonnet replied, "If your Uncle is missing, we need to find him. Although I'm sticking with the 'lost track of time' idea."

"I suppose. If you hear from him, or see him, will you let us know?"

"Of course. I suggest that you wait until you get home from work and, if you haven't heard from him by then, inform the police."

"OK, we'll do that. Thanks."

Ran turned to leave, but Sonnet stopped her.

"Where's your brother?" She asked.

"He's been looking into a few places that Uncle might be, as well as patrolling."

Sonnet nodded at this, and Ran left her apartment. Sonnet locked the door behind her, and decided to go for a shower, even though she didn't need to be in work for another four hours. She went into her bathroom, set the shower running, grabbed a towel and got undressed. She climbed into the shower and let the hot water soak into her skin and hair, before picking up the soap and washing herself.

A few minutes later, she was reaching for the shampoo to wash her hair, when she heard a telepathic voice.

[Guyver Blue?]

Sonnet replied in kind.

[Guyver 5. Is something wrong?]

[I just spoke with Red. Her Uncle is missing?]

[Apparently. I told her to wait a little longer before calling the police.]

[Understandable. By the way, where were you earlier?]

[What do you mean?]

[Red said she called by your apartment a few times and you weren't there.]

Sonnet turned off the shower before continuing.

[Did Guyver 3 mention any information he had given me?]

[Yes. He believed it was your father, although you don't remember that part of your life.]

[Correct, so I went to LA.]

[What for?]

[Hired a PI to look into it. If he is my father, and he was in LA when he was killed, this investigator might be able to find something.]

[Oh right. Doesn't hurt to try I suppose. As long as you can afford it.]

[That's not a problem. I rarely spend my wages, so I have plenty saved.]

[Good thing. Anyway, could you keep me informed as to what is happening with Red's Uncle?]

[Of course. Speak to you soon.]

[Bye.]

As the conversation ended, Sonnet turned the shower back on and picked up the shampoo. Within five minutes she had washed and rinsed her hair, and turned off the shower. She waited for another couple of minutes, allowing water to drip off her, before getting out of the shower, and grabbing her towel. While she was drying off, she wondered what she would be expected to do in work tomorrow. She then decided to stop wondering, since she would find out soon enough, and dressed herself again.

She spent the remaining hours before going to work reading through a few Internet sites, mainly news and sports pages. About 08:20, she closed down her computer, hid it away, and changed her clothes for work. She then left her apartment, locked the door, and went to the Chronos Building.

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AN: This chapter contained several references to three games and a TV show. There are two references to Final Fantasy X, one to Final Fantasy VIII, one to Time Crisis 3, and two to Angel.

They are all in the Private Investigator part of the chapter. If anyone can correctly identify all six references, then I'll email you a sneak preview of the next chapter.

Also, my thanks once again to Refugee (my editor and source of various information used in this story). He has been a great help in this chapter with his suggestions regarding the Private Investigator character.


	33. Lover's Quarrel

Chapter 33: Lover's Quarrel

Sonnet left the lift in her apartment building and walked towards Chronos Japan. She had noticed, with some surprise, that the Landlady hadn't been there that morning. Sonnet figured she would be there the following day though, since that was the monthly rent payment day. She began to wonder if she would have any official information on the Development Lab attack, and what she would be expected to do during the day. Her other concern was wondering where Kyriu had disappeared to. As Ran had said, it wasn't like him to be late, when he usually went out, he always returned at, or before, the time he said he would.

_I'll follow the advice I gave Ran though,_ She thought, _I won't panic unless he hasn't turned up by tonight._

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While Sonnet was wondering about Kyriu, Mizuki was talking with Sho and her brother, Tetsuro, in the Zeus Thunderbolt Base. Agito had gone out on some mission against Chronos, using the armour upgrade. Tetsuro was pressing his sister with questions about Sonnet, her power as Guyver Blue, and Mizuki's own power as Guyver 5. Sho was also curious about these things, and decided to see for himself.

"Mizuki?" He asked.

"Yeah Sho?"

"Feel like a training duel? I want to see how good a fighter you really are."

Mizuki thought about this for a few seconds, before replying:

"OK. Any rules for this fight?"

"Just no removing the control medal. Anything else goes."

"Fine. But I think I should warn you that I'm more agile with the armour. I might be hard to hit."

"That's true of any Guyver, my love. Not just you."

Mizuki blushed slightly at what Sho said.

"Suppose so. Is there a training room here, or do we need to go somewhere else?"

"I think we should go elsewhere," Sho answered, "I don't think Agito would be too happy if we trashed this place."

"OK, any preference?"

Sho didn't answer straight away, but Tetsuro did:

"What about going to the Mojave Desert?"

"Why not," Mizuki answered, noticing Sho nodding at the suggestion, "Want to watch the show Tetsuro?"

"I'd love to," He replied, "I also want to know how good a fighter my little sister is now."

"OK," Mizuki said, "Just give me a few minutes to get changed."

Mizuki had explained to Agito, Tetsuro and Sho the idea about getting special clothes for training duels. It was an idea that Sho liked, and used an old school uniform of his for that purpose. Mizuki went into the room she shared with Sho to change, while Tetsuro discussed the upcoming 'show' with his best friend. A few minutes later, she emerged wearing the baggy green tank top, black shorts, and black slip-on pumps. Sho then went into the room and changed into the old school uniform. Once the two were ready, Mizuki grabbed a hand of both Sho and Tetsuro, and pictured the Mojave Desert in her mind, teleporting the three of them there.

Upon arrival, the three separated, and the Guyver armours were summoned by their hosts. Each combatant moved away from the other until a distance was set, and Tetsuro had also moved a short distance away. Once the distance was reached, the two Guyvers bowed to each other and then began circling each other. Guyver 5 knew that Sho would wait for a few minutes, at most, before attacking her. Sho, on the other hand, figured that Mizuki would want to delay and attack him when he least expected it.

After continuing the circling routine for several minutes, the first move was made by Guyver 1. He fired four beams from the head laser in Guyver 5's direction, while activating his sonic swords. Guyver 5 saw the beams coming, and made use of her enhanced agility to avoid them, not noticing the active swords of her opponent. She back-flipped, resulting in three of the beams sailing past her when she was horizontal in the air. The fourth beam hit her ankle as her momentum put her upside down, but didn't do any heavy damage. As she returned to an upright position, she crouched and jumped into the air as she sensed Guyver 1 running at her. From the air, she fired a few beams from her own head laser, and charged her pressure cannon as she began to descend. The beams hit Guyver 1 in the left arm, one hitting the sonic sword at its base in the forearm and causing it to break off. Guyver 5 noticed and, as she landed and fired her pressure cannon, thought:

_I couldn't do that again anytime soon._

Guyver 1 managed to avoid the gravity blast from her pressure cannon, which vaporised a sand dune instead, and fired the sonic disruptor in her direction. Guyver 5 cart wheeled to her right and only felt a slight twinge of pain in the lower part of her right leg as she cleared the area affected by the disruptor. As a counterattack, she activated her own sonic swords and charged at Guyver 1. Guyver 1 managed to do a forward summersault over Guyver 5's head to avoid the blades. As he landed, with his back to his opponent, Guyver 5 kicked him in the back, causing him to stumble away from her. Guyver 5 then decided to try the attack move that Sonnet had mentioned she had used against one of the Enzyme IIs that had 'killed' her. If she managed to execute it, Guyver 1 would be heavily injured, but probably not out of the fight. As he turned back around to face her again, she charged at him, sonic swords still active. She jumped up when she was close enough and attempted to cut his arms off at the shoulders. She missed her target slightly, as Guyver 1 sidestepped to the right, resulting in her successfully cutting off one of his arms as she landed.

Guyver 1 screamed for about five seconds as the pain of losing a limb registered in his body and brain. He then recovered and decided to end the fight. He opened his right chest plate and began charging the mega-smasher underneath it. Guyver 5 sensed the energy build-up from her opponent and prepared herself to jump aside as the cannon fired. She managed to partially clear the blast area, but most of her legs were caught in the beam. Guyver 5 hit the desert floor, and then fell flat on her face as her brain registered the loss of her legs. Refusing to yield, she used her hands to push herself up, so that she was standing upright for a second or two, and then used her gravity orb to float. Using the orb as a boost and balance, she raised herself high above the desert floor and aimed her descent so that she would land near Guyver 1.

Guyver 1 knew she was trying to land near him, so he jumped backwards, hoping that she would miss. Guyver 5 had expected him to do this, and had altered her descent so that she still landed near him. Tetsuro saw her arm move from her side, to in front of her, but he only realised what she had intended to do when he saw Guyver 1 fall to the floor a second later, his legs cut off from his torso. He had to admit he was impressed with the skill and ability his little sister now seemed to have.

"OK, Guyver 5. I yield," Guyver 1 said to her, after the pain had faded from the injury he had sustained, "You've definitely got skill with the Guyver armour."

"I'm impressed," Tetsuro said, "You will be a challenge for Chronos."

"Thank you both," Guyver 5 replied, moving into a sitting position as Guyver 1 attempted to reattach his legs, "I think the combat training with Blue and the others was a big help. Blue did offer to teach me some combat skills that Taron trained her in, but we didn't get the chance."

"You'll have to schedule it for a future visit." Guyver 1 suggested.

Guyver 1 and Tetsuro then noticed that Guyver 5 was missing both her legs from about mid-thigh.

"Was that the mega-smasher?" Guyver 1 asked.

"Yes. I wasn't quick enough to avoid it fully."

"I'm surprised you managed to avoid so much of it, given I was aiming to vaporise you from the shoulders down."

"Blue pointed out that the armour can enhance agility, and I found I was pretty agile when I started learning all those martial arts. Maybe mine can also enhance instincts and reflex too."

"That's possible," Tetsuro said, "I've often thought that whoever created the Guyver Unit tried different features and attributes on them. The units were probably all various experiments, done by different people, so each unit could have been different."

"Then how do you explain the similarities between Guyver 2 and myself?"

"Both of those units could have been made by the same person or species. Murakami did say that it was never discovered if the Creators were a single species or a group of different species."

The three continued talking for a while longer, until Guyver 5 felt she could handle a teleport. She then took them back to the Zeus base.

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Sonnet, meanwhile, had been working on more zoanoid designs. Her day had begun with a summons to Dr Balcus' office. He had learned of the 'attack' on her by Guyver 5 the day before, and wanted to know everything the Guyver had said to her, and if she could provide any clue as to the identity of that Guyver. Sonnet had replied semi-truthfully, by telling Balcus that the Guyver appeared to be female, based on her voice and physical shape, and that she had appeared on the scene from above, which could mean she lived in the nearby area. Balcus had countered that by saying that that suggestion was unlikely since, according to Chronos Intelligence, none of the known Guyver hosts had been seen in that area for months. Sonnet had immediately thought that Balcus was a fool for thinking that, since Chronos probably didn't know the identities of any Guyvers beyond Sho and Agito. She hadn't voiced that thought though. After that, she had gone to her office, and continued working. It was close to 13:00, and Sonnet considered taking a break.

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In his office, Dr Balcus was again talking with Imakarum Mirabilis via a video link. Balcus had explained to his superior that he was becoming increasingly suspicious of Sonnet. There were now two incidents where a Guyver, or group of Guyvers, had appeared near to her location when Chronos had been conducting an operation. Mirabilis was asking if Balcus had any plans to find out more about her.

"Yes, my lord, I do. We have captured someone she knows, and are converting that person into a spy."

"How will this help?"

"The individual in question will not become a complete zoanoid. We will alter the person's DNA enough so that myself, or any other Zoalord, can access the memories of the spy, and take control of the spy's body if necessary. If we turn the potential spy into a full zoanoid, then one of the Guyvers might be able to detect that, and kill it."

"What makes you think that any of the Guyvers have that ability?"

"The operation that Miss Baji wandered into last night was being carried out by Chronos troops who were in civilian guise. They only transformed into zoanoids when the situation warranted it, which was just before the Guyver appeared."

"That doesn't mean that a Guyver can detect the zoanoid within the human."

"I agree. However, we knew very little about the Guyver units that were stolen from Phoenix. They could have had abilities that the other Guyvers didn't."

"That's speculation, Lord Balcus."

"I know sir, but it is possible."

"I suppose so, since we don't know if the Creators made the units to a standard design, or made a variety of them. Even Guyvers 1 and 2 were different in a few respects, yet they appeared similar at first glance."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Mirabilis said:

"Proceed with your plan, Lord Balcus. I expect you to keep me informed of any results you obtain."

"Of course, my lord."

The communication was then terminated, and Balcus decided to check on the conversion of the spy he had mentioned to Mirabilis.

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Guyver 1, Guyver 5 and Tetsuro reappeared in the room they were having their conversation in before going to combat training. Guyver 5 had to concentrate on keeping herself afloat with her gravity orb, since her legs hadn't fully regenerated. Guyver 1 deactivated his armour, and sat down on the sofa, and Tetsuro quickly sat down too. Mizuki smiled under her armour.

"Don't take up all the room, you two," She said, "I need to sit down as well."

Sho then realised that it was a good thing he had worn old clothes to train in, since one of the arms of the shirt and tunic was missing.

"I'm gonna go and get changed." He said, before getting up and heading for a bathroom, leaving Tetsuro and Guyver 5 alone. Tetsuro didn't waste any time in waiting; he instantly started talking.

"I'm impressed with your skill with the armour, and your abilities. Looks like all those martial arts lessons were worth the risk."

"I think so. I want to take Sonnet up on her offer of learning the martial arts she was taught. It's just a matter of finding the time to visit her now."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," Tetsuro said, "You can both teleport. So, when she isn't working, either she comes here, or you go there."

"True," Guyver 5 conceded, "Teleportation is definitely a timesaver."

Sho came back into the room a few minutes' later, wearing black corduroy trousers and a blue shirt.

"What was that about teleportation?" He asked as he sat down.

"I was saying that it's a timesaver, because it's instantaneous travel."

"Mizuki, I think you've healed now." Tetsuro pointed out.

Guyver 5 looked at her legs, and noticed that her brother was right. She moved the regenerated limbs around a little, testing them, and then deactivated her armour. Mizuki then sat down next to her boyfriend on the sofa. Sho turned to face her, but Mizuki spoke up first:

"Don't even try to apologise for vaporising my legs Sho. We agreed not to hold back."

Sho looked surprised for a second, and then puzzled.

Can you read minds now?" He asked.

"Nope, just your face."

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Sonnet had finished work for the day, and was heading home. As she got off the lift on her floor, she continued down the corridor outside the lift and knocked on Ran's door. Kyriu answered a minute later.

"Hello Sonnet. Checking I'm OK?"

"Yes actually, Ran, Mutaru and I were a little concerned."

"Nothing for you to worry about. I just spent too much time wandering around after doing a little research at the library."

Sonnet smiled and, at the same time, scanned him for any indication that he was a zoanoid. Her scan was negative, which relieved her.

"OK. See you later."

"Bye."

Sonnet then went to her own apartment, and checked her money. She then went down to the Reception Area, and paid her rent to the Landlady, who had been there when she returned to the building.


	34. Recruitment Efforts

Chapter 34: Recruitment Efforts

Sonnet had returned home over seven hours ago, and was writing in her journal again. She was considering producing an electronic version using her laptop, but decided to wait until she knew some encryption/decryption techniques. She paused and glanced at the clock over her sofa. The time was 00:37. She wrote a few more lines on her current page before hearing a knock at her door. She got up, entered her apartment, and closed the balcony door. She moved over to the door, opened it, and saw a terrified Mutaru on the other side.

"What's wrong?" She asked, opening the door to let him in.

He entered the apartment, and turned to face her. While she shut her front door, he paused for a minute, trying to get his breath, before saying:

"There's gonna be a zoanoid attack in the area. Very soon."

Sonnet spun back around to face him, knowing that he had had a psychic influenced dream.

"Any idea how many zoanoids?"

"At least 50. Possibly more."

Damn! Sonnet thought, it's probably going to be a 'recruitment drive'. They must be running short on troops, so they obtain some 'volunteers'. Looks like Mutaru will be getting a workout.

"I could handle about 20, unless they all rush me. Beyond that, I'm outmatched. I think we'll…"

Mutaru looked up as she trailed off.

"We'll what?"

Mutaru looked a bit shocked as her eyes glowed blue, since he hadn't seen this ability of hers.

"They're coming."

"You can sense them?"

"Yes. Although I can't tell you an exact number."

"Can you approximate?"

"At least 20, maybe 25. You and I might need to fight."

"I think I can manage. What about Ran?"

"Let's go to your apartment. We can wake her up and keep her in reserve."

"She won't like that. She'll want to help."

"Then she can help. The more of us, the better."

"What about Sho and the others?"

Sonnet considered this.

"Keep them in reserve. We might need their firepower."

"Why don't you use your enhanced armour? It'd give you a chance to test it in the field."

Sonnet smiled.

"Good idea. Chronos might think there is a seventh Guyver if I do that."

"True. Let's move."

The two of them left Sonnet's apartment, and went to Ran's apartment. Mutaru used his key, and let himself and Sonnet in. Sonnet quickly went into Ran's bedroom, moved to the side of her bed, and shook her awake.

"Ran, Ran wake up. We need you."

Ran was, not fully awake and was a little slow to react to what Sonnet was saying.

"Wh…"

"Ran. WAKE UP!" Sonnet spoke as loud as she could without shouting. This caused Ran to wake up completely, and sit up in bed.

"Sonnet. What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"There is a small zoanoid army in the area. I think they are 'recruiting'. Mutaru and I need your help in getting rid of them."

Ran quickly got out of her bed, and left her room. Sonnet was right behind her. The two women met Mutaru in the lounge area.

"Can you teleport us to the roof?" Mutaru asked.

Sonnet nodded, and held out her hands. Ran and Mutaru grabbed one each, and the trio disappeared in a flash of blue light. They reappeared a few seconds later on the roof of the building. All three summoned their armours, and Blue summoned her upgrade, and began scanning the area.

"How many can you detect?" Blue asked Red and Psychic.

"32." Psychic replied.

"31," Red replied, "How about you?"

"32."

"Remember your sensors have a slightly reduced range." Psychic pointed out, talking to his sister.

"Yeah. I remember. So, do we split up, or team up?"

"Can you handle single combat?" Blue asked, in a concerned voice.

Both Guyvers nodded.

"OK. Stay close to each other though, so we can cover each other if needed."

The three Guyvers jumped off the roof and, once they hit the ground, they headed for the nearest zoanoids they could detect. Stealth Guyver went towards a group of at least seven zoanoids, activating her sonic swords. Red moved towards a group of three, and Psychic moved towards a group of five. Although only a few of them had transformed, the Guyvers could still identify the Chronos troops because they were wearing the trooper uniforms. The group that Stealth was near to went into an apartment building across the street from her current location. Stealth paused for a few seconds, out of sight, and decided to live up to her name. She cloaked, and lifted herself a few inches off the ground with the gravity orb. Now she could sneak around, since none of the zoanoids should be able to tell she was nearby, unless they walked into her. She scanned the building that the zoanoids had entered, and detected all seven on the ground floor.

_This isn't right, she thought, Chronos is usually subtler than this. Why are they being so obvious now?_

Even with that concern, she decided to take them out. Remaining cloaked, she moved closer to their location, and activated the three sonic swords on her left arm. She selected a Vamore as her victim, and moved behind it. Once she was in position, she fired a sonic disruptor beam, which shattered its head, and caused its associates to look around for the culprit. She quickly moved a short distance away, then towards another zoanoid, and quickly sliced it in half vertically.

"What the hell is going on?" an Enzyme II shouted.

Blue, to her surprise, then heard a telepathic voice in her head, which sounded like Balcus.

[Your attacker must have some kind of stealth ability, Enzyme. This could be a problem.]

_Quick off the mark, Doctor!_ Blue thought, somewhat impressed. Balcus' voice then continued.

[Withdraw. Other Guyvers are killing the other teams, we need to conserve resources.]

Blue decided to then cause some more damage. She moved behind the group of retreating zoanoids, and dropped her cloak.

"HEY!" She shouted at them.

As they turned around, and one appeared shocked by her appearance, she fired a beam from the head laser at each of their foreheads. The result was five dead zoanoids, and their remains quickly dissolved. Blue then re-cloaked as she heard someone approaching an apartment door. Luckily, the remains had almost completely dissolved by the time the door had opened, so the tenant only paused for a second and sniffed the air, before going back inside his apartment.

_He must have been able to smell the creatures' blood; although I'm surprised no one came out of their apartments sooner._ Blue thought. She then decided to check on the others.

[Red, Psychic, how are you doing?]

[We've killed about 13 zoanoids between us, but they took off for no reason.] Red reported.

[If you can sense me, can you meet me outside my current building? I might be able to explain what happened.]

She got two acknowledgements, and then teleported herself to the front door of her building. Once the other two Guyvers appeared, she teleported all of them to Ran's apartment. She deactivated her armour, and then sat down on the sofa. Ran shut down her armour, and sat down on the other side of the sofa, and Mutaru took the desk chair after deactivating his armour.

"OK, Sonnet," Ran said, "Why do you think they retreated?"

Sonnet thought for a second before answering:

"I was trying my stealth upgrade, and had killed a couple of zoanoids, when I heard Dr Balcus telepathically telling them to withdraw. Something about having to 'conserve resources'."

"So you can hear other telepathic messages, besides ours?"

"Yes," Sonnet replied, "Remember I told you not to contact me in any way while I'm at work?"

The siblings nodded.

"I was afraid Balcus would pick up on telepathic messages. It seems I also have that ability."

"You have latent telepathic abilities naturally, don't you?" Mutaru asked Sonnet.

"Yeah, but I never learnt how to control them."

"Maybe that is why you can eavesdrop." He said.

"This could be useful. As long as he can't eavesdrop on our telepathic conversations too."

"This is fascinating," Ran stated, "I don't know about you Mutaru, but I'm tired."

"Yeah, I am too."

Sonnet took that as a cue to leave, and teleported herself to her own apartment. She then retrieved her laptop, and accessed the Internet. She was reading any scientific reports that she could find regarding cyborgs, and the possibility of them being produced. Most of the reports she read indicated that cyborgs might be possible in the next twenty years or so, but not sooner.

_If they only knew about Taron._ Sonnet thought sarcastically.

According to a few sources Sonnet had in Taron: since the 'death' of Dr Melicus, Taron hadn't been able to produce any more cyborgs to work as assassins for them. Which meant that Bird and herself were the only ones of their kind. Sonnet, however, didn't regret killing Melicus, or the fact that she and Bird were alone in the world.

_I wonder if I'll be informed of the 'recruitment drive' when I go into work today?_

Sonnet wondered, as she finished the last report on her current site.

She then glanced at the clock, and noticed that she had just over 3 hours to kill before she was due to be at work. She decided to do something unusual, and go for a morning jog. She hid her laptop and journal in the ceiling compartment, and then went to her room and changed her clothes from her jeans and t-shirt to a white set of clothes, including a white tank top, white shorts, socks and trainers. She slid her apartment key into a pocket, and left the apartment.


	35. Information Gathering

Chapter 35: Information Gathering

Sonnet returned to her apartment after jogging in the area for just over an hour. As she shut her apartment door, she sensed another presence behind her. She turned around, ready to telekinetically attack the intruder, when she realised that it was Ran.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"I'm just a little concerned." Ran replied.

"About what?"

"The zoanoids. They are attacking closer and closer to home. Do they know who we are?"

"I don't think so, it appeared to be a sweep to gain more zoanoids. They are done on random areas, at random times. They must be running low on troops."

"OK."

Ran started to go to the door. Before she passed Sonnet, she turned back to her."

"Could you find out?"

"Find out what?"

"If Chronos Japan is running low on zoanoids?"

"Maybe."

"If they are, we might be able to use it to our advantage."

"You have a plan in mind?"

"Why not carry out a search and destroy mission? Between the six of us, we should be able to destroy the Japan Branch. Plus, their Relics Point Base has already been destroyed, so they would be removed from Japan."

"It's not a bad idea. I'll see what I can dig up later today, regarding the Japan Branch's resources. Don't forget about Mt Narisawa though."

"OK."

Ran then opened the door, and stepped out into the hall. Before Sonnet could shut the door, she said:

"I wish I'd called here earlier. If I had known you were going jogging, I'd have gone with you."

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah. Once I'm up, I can't go back to sleep, regardless of the time."

"I'll check with you next time."

"Thanks."

Ran then left, and Sonnet began considering what she had suggested.

_It's not a bad idea._ She thought, _it'd put me out of a job, but I don't mind that. My only real concern is Balcus. He's more powerful than any one of us. However, with several of us working together, we should have a chance._

Sonnet moved to her lounge proper, away from the door, and sat down on the sofa. She then started considering all the scenarios that could take place if they attacked the Chronos Japan branch. It was more important than the Phoenix branch, since the second in command of the organisation was based there. Plus, the projects that went on there were Ultra Secret. Only about half of the Council of Twelve knew about the majority of them, Balcus among them. Even though it was the second most important branch of the organisation, the Ark didn't count, given it was in Earth orbit over Arizona, it seemed to be running low on troops. Or, at least, that was what Ran suspected. This didn't seem right to Sonnet, since, given its position, it should be regularly re-supplied.

Sonnet decided to check how many zoanoids were currently available to the Japan Branch when she went into work. After she had done that, she would try to contact Aptom, to see if he had any information that might help her, since she had detected at least one of his copies in the Japan building when she was walking to and from her office.

_It might be possible to launch a two-pronged attack,_ she speculated,_ if we can gather enough information that indicates we would have a chance, we could attack the Chronos Japan building, and the Mt Narisawa Production Facility at the same time. Then Chronos would be set back quite a bit. I'll discuss this with the others later today, and see what they think. Agito especially, since he will have to alter his plans for the Mt Narisawa facility if we decide to attack the Japan building too. Before that though, I'm going to pay a visit to LA and see if Alicia has found anything._

Sonnet then teleported herself to Los Angeles. This time, she had a better idea of the area, and didn't materialise 20 floors high. She wandered around the San Fernando Valley, getting her bearings, for a few minutes, before heading for Rin's Detective Agency. Once at the door, she pushed it open, and entered the reception area of the office. A young man greeted her as she entered.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, I was hoping to talk to Alicia. I'm a client of hers"

"She's in her office. Hold on, I'll let her know she has a client, Miss…?"

"Baji."

The young man picked up the phone, and spoke into it. Sonnet could clearly hear what was being said at both ends of the phone. By listening to Alicia's voice, she learned that the young man was called Winston. Winston then informed her that she could go into the main office, and indicated the door to it. Sonnet nodded at him, to indicate her gratitude, and then walked through the door. She found herself in a moderately sized, yet windowless, office. There was a light brown desk in the middle of the room, facing the door, with two chairs in front of it for possible clients. There was a computer and a printer on the desk, along with a couple of pens, notepads, and disk holders, for floppy disks, zip disks, and CDs. Lining the wall to the left of the desk was a cupboard that would have been level with Sonnet's waist. This, Sonnet assumed, was used to store the agencies completed case files, three shoulder height filing cabinets, in a row, for other case files, were next to that and a small fridge was next to the cabinets. Against the wall to the left of the desk, and next to the door, were two fold up chairs, folded up since they were not being used, and a two-seat sofa was on the right side of the desk, next to the door. Sonnet suspected the sofa might be one that unfolded into a bed, in case Alicia worked very late.

Alicia herself was typing something at the computer, which she stopped as soon as Sonnet stood in front of the desk.

"Hello Sonnet, take a seat."

Sonnet did so, noticing that half a sandwich, on a paper plate was on the desk.

"I didn't interrupt your lunch, did I?" She asked.

"No," Alicia replied, "I usually get a sandwich for lunch, and then work and eat at the same time, usually paperwork, or typing."

"OK. Were you able to find anything out?"

"Only a little so far. Do you want a printout?"

"Please."

Alicia turned back to her computer, and a minute later, a single sheet of paper came out of the printer. She took it, and handed it to Sonnet, who skimmed through it. Overall, it was the family history of Seiya Baji. It included a mention of his immediate family at the time of his death, and a few details about his wife, Rachel Baji, formerly Rachel Wilmore, a British citizen. No information on his daughter though, except for the fact that she was 14 at the time Seiya was killed, which might have been relevant, seeing as Sonnet's abilities had awoken while she had been living on the streets of some city at age 15.

"I know it's not much," Alicia said, "I'm trying to find more specific information about his daughter and wife, and not him."

"It's a start. Thank you. Do you want any more money for this?"

"No, thanks. It would have only been about $8 anyway, since it only took me a couple of hours to find that."

"Add it to my bill then. I don't mind paying expenses."

"I might. Mind if I ask you a question though?"

"Go on."

"When you hired me for this, you said you had 'very few memories' of your past. What can you remember?"

"Only bits and pieces, and I have no idea how old I was during the things I do remember."

"No memory of your parents?"

Sonnet shook her head.

"You know how something familiar can help an amnesiac remember things? I'm hoping that'll happen with me."

"Something will jog your memory eventually." Alicia said. Her face then lit up: "I could try and find Mr Baji's last address. You might then be able to go there, and see if that helps."

"It's worth a try," Sonnet replied, "I'll call back in about three days. Thanks for your help so far."

Alicia nodded. Sonnet then got up from the chair, and left the office. Nodding at Winston as she walked through the reception area, she then left the building and headed to somewhere she could teleport home. As she turned a corner, going towards a housing estate, she collided with another pedestrian, knocking him over, and causing her to stumble back a little.

Almost instantly after the impact, Sonnet felt her zoanoid sense kick in, and her eyes start to glow. She turned away from him for a second, and cleared her mind, allowing her eyes to turn back to their normal colour. She then looked at the man she had knocked to the floor, and extended a hand to him.

"I'm sorry sir, are you OK?"

The man looked at her for a second, and then grabbed her offered hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"Yes I'm fine."

"I'm sorry, I should have watched where I was going."

"Don't worry about it."

Sonnet glanced at the man, before realising what he was.

"I need to be going now. Sorry again."

She then walked away as fast as she could; yet keeping on a direct line of sight with the man. Once she was about 15 metres away, she checked the area was clear of other people, and made use of her psycho kinesis ability. A few seconds later, the man's brain exploded, and he fell to the floor. A few seconds later, his corpse began to disintegrate. A minute or so after that, and there was no trace to indicate that the man had existed at all.

_I hope I wasn't too rash just now._ She thought, _Oh well, it's done now, so there's no point worrying about it._

Sonnet then found a small alleyway, and teleported back to her apartment. She then changed into a suit, and left for the Chronos Japan building.

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At about 09:00, Mizuki was woken up by a voice in her head.

[Guyver 5, can you hear me?]

She recognised the voice as Guyver Red, and responded.

[Loud and clear. Something wrong Red?]

[No. But I would like your opinion on something. Could you come to my apartment?]

[Sure. Give me about 20 minutes. Should I bring anyone else?]

[Your call. It is 'work' related, so it might help.]

[OK, see you soon.]

Mizuki then felt the voice leave her head, and she decided to get herself ready. She got out of bed, and woke Sho up in the process.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, seeing her up.

"No. Red wants me to come to her apartment for some sort of meeting. You might want to come too."

"Sounds serious." He stated.

"Maybe. Shame Agito is away for the time being, he might have wanted to tag along.

"We can bring him up to speed later." Sho said, getting out of the bed.

"Yeah, you're right."

Mizuki moved into the bathroom of the apartment, within the Zeus base, to make use of the shower, while Sho went to the small kitchen area, and make some breakfast for Mizuki and himself.

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About 15 minutes later, Mizuki came out of the bathroom, towelling her hair dry. After getting herself dressed, she moved to the kitchen area, and saw the breakfast Sho had made.

"Not exactly as good as what you can make, but I think I did pretty well." He stated, as she entered the small kitchen area. He had made a breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs and toast, all of it slightly burnt. As she moved to one of the seats, he pulled it out for her, and then moved to his seat once she was sitting down.

"Very gentlemanly." She commented.

"I try." He replied.

Once they had finished their breakfast, she moved to the small lounge area while Sho went to shower. After he had showered, she took his hands in hers, concentrated, and teleported them to Ran's apartment. Ran and Mutaru then filled them in on Ran's idea, if Sonnet could obtain the necessary information, to launch a two-pronged attack on Chronos Japan.

"Sounds like a good idea." Sho stated.

"What about splitting us up though?" Mizuki asked, "Who would work with whom?"

"I think we all need to discuss that." Ran stated.

"When does Agito get back?" Mutaru asked.

Sho and Mizuki glanced at each other.

"We don't know." Mizuki admitted.

"I'd venture a guess, and say a few days at most." Sho said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I know him."

Mizuki had closed her eyes during this, and she reopened them as Sho finished speaking.

"He'll be back tonight. He's helping part of Zeus Thunderbolt neutralise a zoanoid attack group somewhere in Kyushu."

"He likes to get involved?" Mutaru asked.

"Yes," Mizuki answered him, "Plus, he feels it's partly his responsibility, due to the power his Guyver grants him."

"Makes sense." Ran commented.

"So, should we all get together tomorrow night, and refine the attack plan?" Ran asked, "Sonnet should be able to get some information by then."

"Good idea," Sho said, "I'll inform Agito."

"Great," Mutaru said, "Now, what do you two plan to do today?"

Sho and Mizuki had a short telepathic conversation.

"We hadn't planned anything, why?"

"Sis and I were planning on going swimming later today. There is a leisure centre near to the tennis centre she works at, which has a nice swimming pool, and a hydrotherapy pool, which she likes. If you want, you can join us?"

Ran glanced at him for a second; looking surprised that he had invited them.

[Why did you invite them?] She telepathically asked him.

[I thought they would enjoy something relaxing.] He replied. [Does it bother you?]

[No, I'm just surprised you did invite them.]

While they had been telepathically talking, Sho and Mizuki had been having a quiet, verbal discussion. Mizuki then answered Mutaru:

"We'd love to. It'd make a change from constant training and battles," She said, "We'll need to go back for a few things though."

"Right," Ran replied, "Meet back here at 14:00?"

The two guests then left the apartment, leaving the two alone.

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A few hours later, Sho and Mizuki reappeared in Ran's apartment, carrying small bags.

"Good timing." Ran stated.

"Thanks," Mizuki replied, "This should be fun."

"Yeah," Mutaru added, "I've not been swimming for a while."

He sounded a little concerned, Sho thought.

He dismissed it as his imagination, and waited for Ran and Mutaru to gather their things together. While he was waiting, he glanced at Mizuki. The two of them had done what they could recently to alter their appearance, so that Chronos personnel wouldn't recognise them as easily. They all then left the building, passing the Landlady's open office door on the way out, talking about their planned afternoon out.

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The walk to the leisure centre took about 20 minutes. Once there, they all went into the separate changing rooms (male and female), changed into swimwear, and then went to the pool. After swimming for a bit, Mutaru challenged Sho to a race: swim 20 lengths of the pool as quickly as possible. Sho agreed, and they started. Mizuki and Ran, decided to go into the hydrotherapy pool while the men raced.

Mizuki and Ran had been talking and relaxing in the hydrotherapy pool for about 12 minutes, while Sho and Mutaru had finished their race, with Mutaru winning. The men had decided to also try the hydrotherapy, and were walking towards it when the windows at the far end of the room exploded inwards. Most of the people using the pool screamed as a group of zoanoids entered the leisure centre. Sho and Mutaru dived back into the main pool as, an Enzyme II, presumably the leader, shouted to them:

"GUYVERS!! WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE. SHOW YOURSELVES!!"

[Damn!] Sho said, via the telepathic organisms, [How did they know where to find us?]

[Worry about that later,] Mutaru said, [What do we do now?]

Mizuki then joined the conversation:

[At least one of us needs to be able to activate our armour. That way, the Guyver can create a distraction while the others bio-boost too.]

[Not to mention evacuate any civilians.] Ran added.

[Psychic?] Sho asked.

[Yeah?]

[How long can you hold your breath?]

[About a minute.]

[OK, can you swim, underwater, to the far end of this pool and bio boost?]

Mutaru looked down the pool, away from the zoanoids.

[Yeah, I think so.]

[Good,] Sho replied, [Do so. I can draw their attention.]

[How, Sho?] Mizuki asks, in a worried voice.

[Easy. They should know me by sight. They don't know you are a Guyver yet, so they wouldn't make you as high a priority.]

[OK, I can see the logic there,] She replied, [But Sho?]

[Yes?]

[Be careful.]

Sho smiles at her concern, before replying:

[I will. I'll have help anyway.]

He then decides to draw the attention of the zoanoids. He does so in the most efficient way he can think of:

"GUYVER!!!"

The spherical energy field appeared around Sho, and caused any water that was close to him to be blown away from his body. The blue organic armour then wrapped around him. Using the enhanced strength and agility he now had, he jumped straight up from the pool, and flipped so he landed on one side of it.

"What do you want?" Guyver 1 demanded.

"What else, Guyver?" The Enzyme II sneered back, "Your control medal, and those of your friends. Care to hand them over?"

"Are you crazy? I'd never…"

Before Guyver 1 could complete that sentence, there was another explosion of water, and Psychic Guyver then appeared on the other side of the pool. The Enzyme noticed him.

"Ah good, that's two of you. Where are the other five?"

"You really think we'd tell you?" A female voice demanded.

Guyver 1 glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw Guyver 5 standing there, hands on hips. He smiled under his armour, before he realised what the Enzyme II had said.

_'Where are the other five?' was what it asked._ He thought, _that means they fell for her idea! Great!_

The group seemed to be getting a little impatient, or maybe developing a craving for blood, as one of the zoanoids, a Thancrus, unsheathed it sonic swords, as if preparing to charge. To the surprise of all the Guyvers, the Enzyme II held out an arm, blocking it in place.

"We were told not to initiate hostilities, remember?"

Before anyone could react to this, however, a large pressure cannon blast flew through the air, from above, and blew the left arm off the impatient Thancrus, without damaging the other zoanoids.

"Well," A voice said, "Too bad for you that we have no such commands to follow."

Guyver 1 tracked the blast back to its source, and saw Guyver Red standing on a balcony for observation area, with her hands holding another pressure blast at the ready.

[Is it me, or did that sound a little cliché?] Guyver 1 heard in his mind: Psychic's voice.

Then, everything went crazy, as both sides began attacking. Red and Psychic targeted the weaker zoanoids, the few Gregole and Vamore that were in the group, while Guyvers 1 & 5 took on the Enzyme II and Thancrus, respectively.

Guyver 5 started by firing three pressure cannon blasts, while running, at the Thancrus, and then jumping up, so it couldn't fire back. As it stumbled from the impact of two of the blasts, Guyver 5 once again made use of a move that Blue had taught her, landing behind the creature, and slicing off its other arm as she landed. At least, that was her intent. What she actually did was cut from the base of its neck, down to its waist, as it moved to avoid an attack from Guyver 1, leaving a bloody gap down one side of its body, separating the shoulder from the torso, yet still attached to the body at the waist.

[Ouch!] She heard Red comment via the organisms.

[I missed.] She replied, with a little sarcasm in her voice, as she retracted the blade into her wrist.

[You need to miss more often then.] Psychic stated, also with a touch of sarcasm, and also humour, in his voice.

The conversation was then ended as the fight continued. Guyver 5 then fired three fast mid level pressure cannon blast at the Thancrus and destroyed it. Mainly because one blew its head up. She then turned to assist Guyver 1 with the Enzyme II. She activated her sonic swords first, knowing that she would only get one strike before its acid melted the blades, and activated her gravity orb as she jumped. This allowed her to fly up about eight metres, before she dived at the Enzyme II. The dive was angled pretty well, allowing her to slice off its right arm, and three of the four appendages on its back. She then completed the move by angling her body so that she could roll as she hit the floor, and then pull herself up to her feet.

_I managed it!_ She thought, with shock, as her sonic swords disintegrated, _Won't be able to repeat that for a while though._

[LOOK OUT!!] She heard through the organisms.

She, on reflex, tried to avoid the zoanoid that he had detected milliseconds before the warning, but wasn't quite fast enough as the remaining appendage stabbed through her chest, destroying her right lung in the process. She tried to scream, but was unable to, as she couldn't get enough oxygen to her mouth. Instead, she collapsed to the floor, appearing to be dead.

Guyver 1 saw her lying on the floor of the pool area, blood pouring out of the injury, and pooling around her. He jumped away from the Enzyme II, and vented steam from his mouth vents. While he was a safe distance away, he summoned his armour upgrade, becoming Gigantic Guyver 1, but damaging the internal structure of the leisure centre in the process, as the blast field shattered what remained of the windows that the zoanoids had come through.

[I think the building is empty of non-combatants.] Red reported via her organisms.

[I wondered where you went after cutting that Vamore down.] Psychic said.

[Do you copy Guyver 1?] Red enquired.

Gigantic Guyver, however, didn't hear any of the conversation, as he felt like he was going to explode. Twice now, an Enzyme class zoanoid had killed the woman he loved, and he couldn't hold back his anger. He ran at the creature, and sliced at it with the sonic swords. As they disintegrated, he fired the sonic disruptor, causing its body to shake violently. While it was feeling that, he opened a hyper smasher, and fired it at very close range. The Enzyme II, and most of the building structure near it, was vaporised, along with pieces of the other zoanoids.

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Guyver Red turned to Guyver 1, when he didn't reply to her question. She was a little surprised to see that he had upgraded himself, and wondered why he had. Psychic then tapped her shoulder, and pointed a short distance from the two of them. As quickly as possible, they took out the three remaining zoanoids, and rushed to Guyver 5's body. Luckily, the defence mode hadn't activated yet so they were able to pick up the body. They managed to carry it to a safe distance before they felt the hyper smasher charging up. After it had fired, they saw the building damage, and got themselves out of there as fast as they could. Gigantic Guyver 1, however, seemed to stay rooted to the spot as the building started to collapse around them.

"COME ON!" Red yelled at him, trying to get him to move.

Psychic took a more practical approach. Passing the body of Guyver 5 to his sister, he moved in front of Gigantic Guyver 1, and punched him in the jaw, as hard as he could. The larger Guyver stumbled slightly from the hit, but then seemed to realise what was going on. Seeing that his girlfriend, and Red, were safe, he grabbed the arm of Psychic Guyver, and they both disappeared in a flash of white light.

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Red saw the flash of white light, and realised that Sho had used the power of the Gigantic unit to teleport himself and her brother out of the building. A few seconds later, the sensors on her head moved in their groves, and she sensed two people behind her. As she turned to face them, the gold armour detached from Guyver 1, and vanished. As she completed her 180° turn, she saw her brother take a few steps away from Guyver 1, and Guyver 1 crouch down next to Guyver 5s body. Luckily, the part that had skewered her had dissolved when the Enzyme II was killed, so there was nothing left to do but wait for it to heal.

_I hope she wakes up soon._ Red thought.

"She'll be fine, Sho. You know that." Psychic stated.

"Yes, I know." the synthesised voice of Guyver 1 replied.

Red glanced back at the leisure centre.

"Do you think we should risk going back for our clothes and money?" She asked.

"I think we should," Guyver 1 stated, "I don't know about you two, but I suspect Chronos could find something that might link to who we really are in there."

He heard Red say something under her breath, before she said:

"You're right. My pass for the leisure centre is in there, which is photo ID."

"My gym card too," Psychic stated, "I don't want to leave that behind."

"Will you two be able to go in and retrieve your things?" Guyver 1 asked.

"Yes." Both siblings replied.

"While you are there," Guyver 1 hesitated mid sentence, "Break into a few extra lockers, and cause a little damage."

Both Red and Psychic had a shocked look under their armours.

"Why?" Red demanded.

"Chronos might be able to obtain any information from here, including who was here, and what locker that person used. If they can do that…"

"They can get our identities." Psychic finished for him.

Both Guyvers nodded at Guyver 1, and then ran into the remains of the leisure centre.

_How the hell did they know where we were?_ Sho wondered as he watched Guyver 5 heal.

About ten minutes later, they emerged, carrying a few bags of clothes. Psychic carried his and Guyver 1's things, while Red carried Guyver 5's things, as well as her own. Guyver 1 became Gigantic Guyver 1, picked up Guyver 5's body, and then teleported the four of them back to Ran's apartment. As they were about to deactivate their armours, a voice said:

"I was wondering when you'd get back."

With the exception of Guyver 5, they all turned to face the source of the voice, who got up from the sofa so that Guyver 1 could place his girlfriends healing body on it. The healthy Guyvers then deactivated their armours.

"Mr Makishima, how did you know where to find us?" Ran queried.

"I brought him here." Sonnet stated.

"That's helpful," Ran said, "Once Mizuki recovers, we can discuss what we are going to do."

"I believe that's why she offered to bring me here," Agito said, "Oh and Ran, call me Agito please. You're a friend, so there is no need to be so formal."

Ran simply nodded in acknowledgement to that request/statement. She then turned to Sonnet, and observed that she must have recently come back to the apartment building from working, as she was still wearing her grey suit, with a white blouse. The only thing that might suggest otherwise was that she had untied her hair, letting it hang down her back.

"I've got some information regarding the strength of the zoanoid forces in the Japan Branch, and some for the Mt Narisawa facility. It looks favourable. However, I'd like to check it with a friend of mine first, to see if he can offer any more insights."

"Anyone we know?" Sho queried.

Sonnet debated with herself weather or not to tell him, considering what Aptom had done to him and Mizuki in the past. If she did tell him, he could react in several ways, most of which were negative. But, he could just take it at face value, or decide that the past is the past. In the end, however, she decided he was better off knowing.

"Aptom." She simply said.

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Sonnet saw Sho tense up as she revealed whom her friend was, as well as a look of shock pass across Mutaru's face.

_That's interesting,_ she thought, _I didn't think Mutaru knew Aptom even existed._

"Since he is capable of splitting himself up as many times as he likes, he has been able to make himself into quite an intelligence gatherer," Sonnet explained, "He has copies of himself in several Chronos branches, including Japan, and can obtain information quite easily."

"So you're going to contact him, and ask him for info?" Sho asked.

"Yes. He might even offer to help out, seeing as he is a Chronos fugitive."

"Based in what you already know," Agito questioned, "Could we pull off a two pronged attack on both Chronos Japan, and Mt Narisawa?"

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AN: Sorry to anyone who might be reading this fic for the long delay in updating, but I've been busy with a lot of things recently, and just not had the time to work on it. Hopefully, updates will be more regular now.


	36. Assault Planning

AN: I know this is short, sorry about that. This is a small filler chapter while I try to write the large attacks that will take place on the Chronos facilities.

Also, a reminder:

_Italics - thoughts_

**Bold **-** telepathic conversations**

Chapter 36: Assault Planning 

Sonnet paused for a few seconds, before answering Agito:

"No."

She then said:

"Not two concurrent attacks, anyway. I think we should do neutralise one target first, then the other once the first target is gone. However," She paused to glance at Ran and Mutaru, "I don't know if all of us would have the endurance and stamina to manage that."

"Meaning what, exactly?" Ran asked in a calm voice.

"I don't know how physically fit you three are compared to Guyvers 1, 3 and myself. Ok, granted, I cheat a little, but the point is still valid."

**Yep, I guess you do cheat.** Ran's telepathic voice entered her head, **As you do have an unlimited energy supply due to your condition.**

**That's another advantage I forgot to mention to them when we first met.** Sonnet replied, with the mental equivalent of a smirk.

"Besides," Sonnet continued, before an argument could break out, "I won't be joining you for whichever target you attack first."

"And where will you be?" Agito asked, in a calm tone of voice.

"I'll be taking care of an undeclared grudge that someone has against me."

"That's not very helpful." Sho stated.

"It's not supposed to be. You'll find out soon enough." Sonnet replied.

"So, if we are only going to attack one target at a time, which one should we take out first?" Ran queried.

"I suggest Mt Narisawa. That way, there will be no direct re-supply line for Chronos Japan when we attack there."

"Except for the processing/creation facilities that they already have." Agito pointed out."

"We can split up into groups when we take Chronos Japan out," Sonnet stated, "And one group can target the production facilities in the basement area. I'll try and get a map of the building layout, to determine if there are anymore production centres in the building."

There was a short pause.

"I think we can keep the attack plan that Agito came up with," Sonnet said, "The one we agreed on a few days ago, just alter it slightly to account for my absence."

**I realise my not being there will mean that you have to get the databases from the facility by yourself.** Sonnet sent to Agito.

**I noticed. But I can manage alone.** He sent back.

_I hope so._ Sonnet thought.

She took a few seconds to check on Mizuki's condition.

"Sho?" She said, after getting the result.

"Hmm?" He absently replied.

"I think she's healed up now, want to try waking her?"

"I can't. If I summon my armour in here…"

Sonnet frowned.

"Right, I forgot that part."

She glanced at the others in the room.

"We'll be back in a minute." She stated, before grabbing Sho's arm, and teleporting him out of the apartment to an area where he could activate his armour and not damage anything or anyone nearby. She then teleported them both back, and Guyver 1 spoke with her telepathically, to wake her up. As soon as she was awake, Sonnet stated:

"You don't have much luck with Enzymes, do you?"

Guyver 5 didn't reply for a second, as she glanced at her chest where the Enzyme II had stabbed her.

"Not really." She replied, after seeing she had healed.

Guyver 5 then glanced around the room.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Strategy meeting." Sho summarised.

"Which target are we hitting?"

"We're going to hit Mt Narisawa first, cutting off the immediate supply lines to Chronos Japan, and then attack the Japan Branch a couple of days later, so we have time to recover in between." Sonnet explained.

"Ok, how will the attack work?" Guyver 5 queried.

"Remember Agito's initial plan for Mt Narisawa?"

"I think so."

Guyver 5 then explained:

· Guyvers 1 and 5 would cover the control centre, damaging/destroying whatever they could,

· Guyvers Red and Psychic would destroy the Production Centres,

· Guyver Blue and Guyver 3 would copy all the information in the Chronos computers there, and then destroy them.

· The general role of all of them was to destroy any Chronos equipment and 'products' while also carrying out their specific tasks.

"That's right," Agito confirmed, "Although Blue claims she'll be elsewhere."

Guyver 5 turned to Sonnet.

"Doing what?"

"Taking care of a grudge."

"I thought you didn't hold grudges?"

"I don't. It's a grudge that someone has against me, so I'm going to give him the chance to deal with it."

"Also, there is something else you should be aware of," Sonnet announced, "as well as designing zoanoids, I've also been assigned to work with a team of people who are working on a way to, somehow, neutralise our teleportation abilities."

"That could be bad." Sho commented.

"Definitely. I'll stall it as much as I can, but I have to be careful in doing so."

They discussed the strategies for about another half an hour, and then Agito and Sho were teleported home by Guyver 5. Sonnet also left Ran's apartment, and returned to her own.

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A few minutes after entering her apartment, and locking the door, Sonnet heard a voice in her head:

**You're going to duel him to the death, aren't you?** Guyver 5 telepathically asked.

**How did you figure that?** Sonnet replied, walking into her bedroom, and getting a change of clothes out.

**I can only think of one person who would hold a grudge against you because, after we destroyed his Chronos Branch, you returned and nearly killed him.**

**Yes, it's him I'm going after. An attack on him should get some other attention focused away from you five.**

**Why aren't you telling them what you are going to do?**

**Because I don't want them offering to help. We need as much firepower as possible for Mt Narisawa. Besides, like I said, it's mainly a distraction.**

**But if you can kill him?**

**Then I will.**

Sonnet had got changed by this point, and was hanging her suit up, when Guyver 5 ended the conversation with:

**I hope you can. One less Zoalord would be _very_ helpful to our objectives.**


End file.
